Metamorphosis in nature, photo by Pexels
The first year of The Future Blog revolved around a set of pieces that had the intent of unveiling the policy areas that the blog is covering, as well as specific topics within these policy areas which I think will become more and more relevant for the future.
The blog in its first year served also to bridge the gap with my previous project: Res Publica - Italian Politics Explained. By creating constant references to Latin authors I tried to reference my previous work; similarly, by writing small posts about each topic I wanted the blog to just feel as a space where certain topic could find light, without necessarily take action in any sense.
This second year, instead, things are different: If I had to take an example of a Latin author that can symbolize the new era for the blog it'd be Ovid, author of the "Metamorphoses". This is because this year concrete policy examples will be given as, in an attempt to showcase how change can and should happen in certain policy areas.
I personally think that butterflies are a perfect embodiment of how anyone can make a difference: they transform and there is also the idea that for how small they are they can make the biggest impact. The idea of the "Butterfly effect" is that by moving their wings can even create a tornado. Similarly, anyone can impact society and take action toward change and I hope I will able to highlight it in my future pieces.
This time, I'll be focusing on how an institution, like the Council of Europe, can have an impact on metaverse policies by promoting inclusion - which is the policy theme of September.
European Governance
The rise of the metaverse has the potential when it comes to accessibility on a global level to either ease or increase a set of key future challenges: from inclusion and diversity to data protection and hate speech. All of these questions have to be answered not just in global terms, but also in European terms. However, Europe is more than just the European Union: the oldest international organization of our continent, the Council of Europe, is tackling these issues with a holistic approach by inserting in the discussion countries - like the UK - which are not member states of the EU anymore.
A view of Strasbourg, the city where the Council of Europe has its headquarters, also via Pexels
Council of Europe 1: Binding Measures
The approach of the Council of Europe is particularly relevant when it comes to raising ethical questions regarding the metaverse, as the organization in the past decades has emerged as a primary body when it comes to defending and promoting human rights. This is because its court (ECHR) has the mandate to make sure that the European Convention on Human Rights is respected: it means that it can sanction states who do not respect the principles contained in it, something very rare when it comes to human rights law.
Examples of recent cases followed by the Court concerning new technologies can be found in this Factsheet on New Technologies from September 2022.
The document contains several cases related to the emergence of new technologies with a specific reference to issues like the protection of underage people and sexual misconduct (see K.U. V. Finland), hate speech (see Pihl V. Sweden), and more pressing issues. All of these in the metaverse are becoming even more concerning. For example, sexual misconduct is one of the key difficulties that the metaverse encountered in 2021 (As the MIT reports:, see resources below)
This, paired with an amplified data issue and hate speech problem with which European countries are still struggling to keep up, might give the ECHR a leading role in defending European citizens with the emergence of these new technologies.
Council of Europe 2: Non-Binding Measures
The scope of the Council of Europe's work is, however, bigger than solely legal work. It contains a set of policy measures that, unlike EU measures, impact countries like Switzerland, Turkey, and even Ukraine. Of course, the policy measures are not binding like court sentences, but they can still play an important role.
For example, the has set a Digital Agenda 2022-2025 which sees the Metaverse as something whose development is worth watching closely and being discussed. One of the last meetings on this issue was just last week when on the 14th of September the Committee of Ministers met to discuss not just the challenges related to human rights and the metaverse, but also its impact on the rule of law and democracy.
Indeed, one of the most interesting parts of the work of the Council of Europe in this sense is the role that the organization in pushing democratization forward, something where new technologies can be both a blessing and a threat. A debate on the topic is being sparked around Europe (see link below for examples of organizations working on the topic) and it’s interesting to see how the institution that hosts the Venice Commission which focuses exactly on democracy will act in this sense in the next years.
Challenges for The Future
There are still many questions open when it comes to the governance challenges that the rise of the metaverse will bring. What is sure is that the issues raised by the internet will be even more severe in this case, though the opportunity is bigger. The need to impose standards in our continent, even outside of the European Union, is urgent if we want to develop a healthy and human-centric approach to immersive technology.
For this reason, looking at how the Council of Europe has acted when it comes to technological trends, how its Court is working, and its agenda priorities for the next years when it comes to democratization and human rights is a must.
Resources:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/16/1042516/the-metaverse-has-a-groping-problem
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