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Reports suggest that China is considering implementing a system similar to its social credit system in the metaverse and other online virtual environments.
According to POLITICO, China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company, has put forward a proposal for a digital ID for all metaverse and online virtual world users, based on “natural characteristics” and “social characteristics.”
The proposal aims to “maintain order and safety in the virtual world” by gathering a range of personal information and identifiable markers, including a person’s occupation. The suggestion is for this data to be permanently stored and shared with authorities.
An illustrative example of the benefits of this system is provided, involving a problematic user causing turmoil in the metaverse. The proposed digital ID could help law enforcement quickly locate and penalize such individuals.
This concept echoes China’s existing social credit system, an evolving infrastructure designed to enhance behavior assessment, scoring, and ranking of citizens based on various criteria. This system has also been employed for enforcement purposes.
In 2019, the Associated Press reported that authorities prevented individuals with social credit issues from buying plane tickets approximately 17.5 million times in 2018. Other offenders faced repercussions, such as being denied the ability to purchase train tickets about 5.5 million times.
China Mobile introduced these proposals on July 5 during discussions with a focus group centered on the Metaverse, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations communications technology agency.
The metaverse focus group is scheduled to convene again in October, during which time the proposals might be subject to voting. Should they be approved, they could significantly impact telecommunications companies and technology firms. The ITU’s metaverse group is working on creating new standards for metaverse services.
Contributors from the group have noted that Chinese firms are submitting a significantly greater number of metaverse proposals compared to those from the United States and Europe. One participant, speaking to POLITICO, suggested that China is strategically aiming for its proposals to become the metaverse standard if such platforms become widely used.
The contributor noted, “Imagine a metaverse where your identity protocols are set and monitored by Chinese authorities. Every government must ask themselves: ‘Is that the kind of immersive world we want to live in?'”
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