Zuckerberg's Metaverse holds potential for 'virtual caliphate' says EU paper

An internal EU document seen by EUobserver voices concerns that Metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg's developing virtual world, could become a new breeding ground for terrorism recruitment.

"The creation of a virtual caliphate or Da'esh base camp is one of the risks linked with this new world," says the paper, which was drafted by the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator Ilkka Salmi.

Reoported by Nikolaj Nielsen of EUobserver, the paper goes on to say that the decentralised financing of crypto-currencies could also further help terrorist organisations to operate their own Metaverses.

Facebook founder Zuckerberg says Metaverse is a fully interactive and immersive experience that allows users via avatars to engage with 3D virtual surroundings.

"Although still under construction, the Metaverse holds the potential for violent extremists to exert influence in new ways through fear, threat and coercion," says the 14-page paper.

The paper also warns that the Metaverse could be used to spread extremist ideology as well as lead to the creation of the multiple Metaverse versions or Metaverse-like environments.

"Extremist organisations could create Metaverse spaces where they freely spread disinformation and hate speech, and where rejection of democracy brings people together," it says.

The paper recommends a policy discussion in the Council, representing member states. It says the council's working party on terrorism (TWP) and the standing committing on operational cooperation and internal security should be involved in those talks.

It also recommends looking into the existing legal framework for changes when it comes to the terrorist content online regulation, the digital services act and the anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing legislation.

Back in May, the District of Columbia sued Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold him personally liable for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a privacy breach of millions of Facebook users’ personal data that became a major corporate and political scandal.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine filed the civil lawsuit against Zuckerberg in D.C. Superior Court. The lawsuit maintains that Zuckerberg directly participated in important company decisions and was aware of the potential dangers of sharing users’ data, such as occurred in the case involving data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica.

Cambridge Analytica gathered details on as many as 87 million Facebook users without their permission. Their data is alleged to have been used to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.

Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook and has headed its board since 2012, controls more than 50% of Facebook’s voting shares and “maintains an unparalleled level of control over the operations of Facebook as it has grown into the largest social media company in the world,” the lawsuit says. The social network giant has nearly 3 billion users worldwide. Meta has a market value of over $500 billion.