Terrorism comes to the metaverse

So far, Mark Zuckerberg’s “metaverse” is pretty unimpressive, a digital realm where people no foot and the future looks a lot like grocery shopping. It’s easy to take the whole thing as a joke, even if the tech industry grind out new products to turn an unfinished idea into reality in our near future.

But what if it becomes a breeding ground for terrorist activity?

A trio of terrorism researcher at University of Nebraska Omaha warning of that possibility, conjuring up the specter of a zombified digital “Osama bin Laden” who radicalizes the recruits while the extremists conspire and use their metaverse avatars to train together – but in separate actual locations – to perform real-life attacks.

The trio writes at Conversation. They added: “Violent extremists can conspire from their living room, basement or backyard – all while building social connections and trust in their peers. … As extremist leaders dictate real-world action, these groups are likely to be more prepared than extremist groups today because of their time in the metaverse.”

That’s serious stuff. “A reverse wedding can be disrupted by attackers who don’t accept the couple’s religious or gender union,” the researchers wrote. “These behaviors would be psychologically damaging and lead to real-world harm.” Possibly, but it sounds horrible like “Bomb“The phenomenon that emerged in the early months of the pandemic – certainly a problem, but worthy of being lumped together with terrorist attacks?

In any case, the metaverse seems to be a new bottle of wine filled with old fears. Back in 2013, documents revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that US and British spies have infiltrated World of Warcraft and Second life – online fantasy world with metaverse style elements – to root out Muslim extremists. They reported not finding much. “For terrorist groups that want to keep their communications secret, there are more effective and easier ways to do that than putting up a troll avatar,” one observer noted. The increasingly centralized nature of the major online platforms means it is more likely that violent extremists will flee to “decentralized web“and stay away from Zuckerberg’s sandbox, to carry out their plot.

The Omaha researchers do not offer solutions to the problems posed by potential extremists, but only say the challenge requires creative thinking. However, they make a good point: Wherever human activity expands, the occasional human tendency to do evil will follow. Even if the place isn’t real.