Marginalized people often suffer the most harm from unintended consequences of new technologies.
Problems are already surfacing.
It will also require regulation with teeth to keep Big Tech accountable to the public interest.
Without these, the metaverse risks inheriting the problems of todays social media, if not becoming something worse.
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In reality, theinternet is far from raceless.
MIT’s Joy Buolomwini explains the ‘coded gaze,’ the priorities, preferences and prejudices of the people who shape technology.
Whiletechno-utopiascommunicate desired visions of the future, the reality of new technologies often doesnt live up to these visions.
Zuckerberg described the metaverse as a moreimmersive, embodied internetthat will unlock a lot of amazing new experiences.
This is a vision not just of a future internet, but of a future way of life.
The question is, will those consequences be the same for everyone?
History suggests the answer is no.
Unfortunately,racism and technologyoften go hand in hand.
This historical relationship between race and technology leaves me concerned about the metaverse.
Meta has a poor relationship with Black users on its Facebook platform, and with Black women in particular.
Facebook has sinceupdated its ad targeting categoriesto no longer include ethnic affinities.
It also means starting with a consideration of values andprinciples to guide design.
Federal laws have shielded social media companiesfrom liability for users posts and actionson their platforms.
The metaverse and me
I am not against the metaverse.
I am for a democratically accountable metaverse.
As it stands, the benefits of the metaverse dont outweigh its costs for me.
But it doesnt have to stay that way.
