The International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, is working on how to police the metaverse, a digital world that projects itself as an alternative to the real world. Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock believes the organization must be ready for this task in order not to be left behind with the metaverse and its related technology.
Interpol prepares to police the metaverse
Law enforcement organizations face difficulties in adopting certain policies to enforce the law in the metaverse. However, Jurgen Stock, Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, believes that the organization must be prepared to act on crimes that are taking place in the digital world.
Currently, the organization is preparing to take its action to the metaverse platforms, which are already being used by some groups to commit crimes. In an interview with the BBC, Stock fixed:
Criminals are sophisticated and professional in adapting very quickly to any new technological tools that become available to commit crimes. We have to respond sufficiently to that. Sometimes legislators, police and our societies are falling a bit behind.
Among these crimes currently occurring in the metaverse are verbal harassment, assault, and others, including ransomware, forgery, money laundering, and financial fraud. However, some of these are still in legal gray areas.
crimes in the metaverse
One of the biggest problems facing the organization right now is determining whether or not an action constitutes a crime in the metaverse, according to Dr. Madan Oberoi, Interpol’s executive director of technology and innovation. Acknowledging that there are still difficulties in this regard, he stated:
If you look at the definitions of these offenses in physical space and try to apply them in the metaverse, there’s a catch. We don’t know if we can call them a crime or not, but those threats are definitely there, so those issues have not been resolved yet.
For Oberoi, one thing is certain: to police the metaverse, Interpol needs to have contact and be present on the metaverse platforms. That’s why the organization already has its own place in the metaverse, which was inaugurated during its 90th General Assembly in New Delhi in October.
Interpol’s metaverse platform also serves another purpose, giving it the ability to offer online courses to members of the force in other countries, allowing them to directly practice skills learned in the metaverse.
What do you think about the actions of Interpol and the metaverse? Tell us in the comment section below.
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