Crime Potential of Metaverses

Abstract

With the development and spread of metaverses open to the public, criminology could face a new challenge. From the point of view of criminology, metaverses can be looked at from three different perspectives: First, there is the question whether metaverses open new dimensions to the already known Internet criminality. Looking at this more thoroughly, there is the danger of a quantitative increase of criminality in the Internet, but only low potential for the development of completely new forms of criminality. Second, virtual worlds can be regarded as separate societies for which the effects of deviant behaviour can be analysed by criminology, this resulting in severe conceptual and methodical problems. The findings of criminology in the real world can hardly be applied to the conditions of the virtual world. Finally, the use of virtual worlds could have feedback effects on the users in their real life. By imparting certain values and attitudes, the (excessive) occupation with virtual worlds could have effects on the behaviour in the real society. This question can so far hardly be answered and should be the object of further research.