Metaverse — the latest chapter of the Splinternet?

The metaverse - a concept that initially appeared in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash - has been described as the next chapter of the internet. While some metaverse users will interact with blockchain-based start-ups that enable the exchange of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens and have greater control and ownership of their data, a larger portion of consumers will experience immersive virtual worlds using smartphones and computers on today's centralised big tech platforms. The mass adoption of blockchain-based metaverses is not guaranteed and more time is needed to assess its chances of success to become the mainstream technology. The metaverse will face similar challenges to those already faced by the Asia Pacific internet sector. Under China's current data regulations users cannot freely explore virtual worlds hosted outside of their national borders and metaverse builders are forced to create localised versions of their product in each jurisdiction. The collection of sensitive personal data poses another challenge to the metaverse. Although the splinternet is likely to deepen over the next few decades, there are options to alleviate the potential impacts of a broken metaverse and to maximise its positive applications.