The First Principles: Setting the Context for a Safe and Secure Metaverse

The metaverse delivered through converged and amalgamated technologies holds promise. No wonder technology heavyweights, large corporates, research organizations and businesses cutting across industry verticals are racing to put in place a metaverse-first strategy. The bets on consumers rapidly migrating from traditional social networks and collaborative applications to more immersive digital experiences have been placed. However, the transition is not expected to be seamless. Privacy, safety and security concerns abound in the early versions of the metaverse. Increased regulatory oversight and diverse national laws threaten to derail the hype around the metaverse. It is increasingly clear that the final iteration of the metaverse will need to assuage the concerns of individual users while addressing complex legal and regulatory requirements. Thus, a multi-perspective approach needs to be adopted to help set the agenda for the evolution of the metaverse. This research paper examines the different aspects and challenges which the future metaverse will need to address. A set of ”first principles” are formulated, which if implemented will lead to the development of an equitable, inclusive, safe and secure metaverse.