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China is reportedly looking to implement a system akin to its social credit system, but in the Metaverse and other online virtual worlds.<\/p>\n
Proposals viewed by POLITICO and reported on Aug. 20 show the state-owned telco China Mobile proposed a digital ID for all metaverse and online virtual world users that work with \u201cnatural characteristics” and “social characteristics.”<\/p>\n
The proposals say \u201cto keep the order and safety of the virtual world\u201d the ID would harbor a slew of personal information and identifiable signs including a person\u2019s job and suggested such data be permanently stored and shared with authorities.<\/p>\n
An example of the benefits of the system was provided with a problem user that \u201cspreads rumors and makes chaos in the metaverse\u201d \u2014 with the digital ID allowing police to quickly find and punish the person.<\/p>\n
The proposal mirrors China\u2019s social credit system \u2014 an in-development infrastructure designed to improve behavior that scores and ranks citizens across various metrics which has also been an enforcement tool.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the Associated Press reported\u00a0that authorities blocked social offenders from purchasing plane tickets 17.5 million times in 2018. Other social offenders were punished by being barred from purchasing train tickets 5.5 million times.<\/p>\n
On July 5, China Mobile put forward the proposals as part of discussions with a focus group on the Metaverse put together by the United Nations\u2019 communications technology agency the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).<\/p>\n
\nJoin us in Shanghai July 4-6 for our #metaverse<\/a> focus group, followed by a forum on July 7 and be part of key pre-standardization effort.
With int’l #standards<\/a> we can create global access to knowledge & tech for #metaverse<\/a> to benefit everyone, everywhere.https:\/\/t.co\/4IrlYExOjW pic.twitter.com\/3XAiCu90zz<\/a><\/p>\n