Stakeholders and academia agreed that the metaverse will be a highly collaborative world, where thousands of companies will be working together, and which would require seamless interoperability. However, even though the metaverse is currently at a very early stage of its development, it already poses some regulatory challenges and policy issues in different areas, including on data protection, liability, accessibility and inclusiveness.
Regulatory challenges and policy implications of the metaverse were discussed during a hearing organised by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs (JURI) committee on 24 April 2023.
On its side, the European Commission is seeking feedback until 3 May 2023 with a view of adopting a non-legislative initiative on virtual worlds. The initiative, which was initially expected on 31 May 2023, has been postponed to 21 June 2023.
The Commission said, "the initiative will take a proactive approach for the EU to shape the global development of [virtual worlds] based on openness, interoperability and EU values”.
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