China Explores Digital IDs – It is a well-known fact that China has a strong anti-crypto stance, but despite this strong anti-crypto position, China is looking to enter the metaverse, but with a clear set of dos and don’ts to follow. The country is apparently looking into ways to build social credit systems for metaverse users that are similar to the Communist Party’s contentious rules that are part of China’s day-to-day governing and working. Members of China’s tech community are beginning negotiations with other global tech organizations on the subject.
According to a Politico story published over the weekend, China Mobile approached the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with certain metaverse-related recommendations. The ITU is a United Nations (UN) communications institution that establishes global guidelines for the technology sector.
China’s initial idea is a digital ID system for metaverse users. Individuals’ personal information, such as social media credentials and job details, will be encased in the proposed digital IDs.
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This digital ID system is being compared to China’s social credit system, which assigns ratings to Chinese citizens. The approach might result in people being barred from utilizing public services based on ‘poor behavior’ scores.
China’s law enforcement authorities aim to use this digital ID system to track down cybercriminals. Entities that perpetrate fraud, identity theft, or harassment in these fully functional virtual ecosystems will face real-life penalties in China if this digital identification plan is approved.
People can meet as digital avatars in the metaverse for different social gatherings including concerts, business engagements, games, and the exchange of digital files and papers.
According to Politico, if China Mobile’s application to the ITU is approved, it will allow the Chinese government to publicly snoop on metaverse users.
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The ITU’s metaverse-focused group is scheduled to convene in October, and China’s proposal could be put to a vote. Neither China Mobile nor the ITU has yet responded to the report.
This is not the first time a Chinese corporation has shown interest in entering the metaverse sector. Tencent, a Chinese technology company, announced the development of an ‘extended reality’ (XR) subsidiary in June 2022, betting on the metaverse notion of virtual worlds.
Last year, China’s Taiyi Group purchased Huobi’s ‘Huoxun’ communication platform in order to add additional technical data to its metaverse research adventure.
According to Statista, the worldwide metaverse sector’s revenue is expected to reach $82 billion by the end of 2023. The income generated by the metaverse sector is expected to reach $936 billion in the next seven years, by 2030.
