Democratic Culture in the Metaverse

Prof. Dr. Matthias Quent

doi:10.5771/9783748948117

Summary

The Metaverse: Opportunities, risks, and regulation of a digital future.Virtual worlds are fundamentally changing society, politics, and the economy. This book offers an interdisciplinary analysis of key challenges: How do DAOs influence extremist movements? What role does immersive technology play in political education? How can regulation safeguard democratic values? Experts from the social sciences, law, and technology examine digital participation, hate speech, and governance in the metaverse. An essential work for researchers, policymakers, and actors in the digital transformation.With contributions byCaroline Böck | Lenn Blaschke | Julia Ebner | Jonas Fegert | Eva Groß | Matthias C. Kettemann | Sandra Kero | Jean-François Lucas | Martin Müller | Mick Prinz | Georg Plattner | Deborah Schnabel | Josephine Schmitt | Anabel Taefi | Esen K. Tütüncü | Arne Vogelgesang | Sara Vogl | Ulrike Zähringer

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2025
ISBN-Print: 978-3-7560-1919-9
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-4811-7
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Language: English
Pages: 242
Product type: Edited Book

PrefacePages 1 - 6 Download chapter (PDF)
Matthias Quent Download chapter (PDF)
1. Digital Public Spheres, Platform Structures, and the Concentration of Informational Power
2. Democratic Risks of Monopolistic Platform Economies
3. AI as a Challenge for the Political Public Sphere, Pluralism, and Participation
4. Democratic Scope for Shaping Digital Spaces: Governance, Regulation, Innovation
5. About this book
Matthias Quent Download chapter (PDF)
1. Introduction
2. Immersive Experiences
3. State of Research
4. Journey Through the Metaverse
5. Dimensions of Democratic Culture in the Metaverse
6. Discussion
7. References
Lenn Blaschke Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1. A Theory of Immersive Democracy
  2. 1 The Foundation: Immersion and Democracy as Lived Reality
  3. 1. Politics as a Space of Appearance for New Beginnings
  4. 1. Affects as Political Forces: Expanding the Rational Citizen Concept
    2. Affect Theory: Affects as Pre-Reflective Forces in Politics
  5. 1. From Physical to Digital Democracy: A Shift in Spaces of Experience
    2. Digital Technologies as Mechanisms for Shaping Political Experience
    3. Immersive Democracy as an Alternative: Designing Digital Spaces Democratically
  6. 1. The Political Subject Between Autonomy and Embeddedness
    2. Immersive Democracy as the Design of Resonance Spaces
    3. Politics as Embodied Experience
    4. From Subject to Community – Immersive Democracy as Collective Practice
  7. 6 An Example of Immersive Democracy: Radikale Töchter and Action Art
  8. 7 Concluding Reflections and Discussion of Limitations
  9. References
Octavia Madeira, Georg Plattner Download chapter (PDF)
1. Malevolent Actors in the Metaverse
2. The Metaverse as a Democratic Space
3. Encouraging Participation and Democratic Involvement
4. Discussion
5. References
Jean-François Lucas, Jessica Galissaire, Henri Isaac Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1 The "Metaverse" as a Concept, Metaverses as Embodiments
2. 2 The Platforms Legacy
3. 1. Towards More Harmonised Criminal Law Frameworks
  2. 1. Multi-Stakeholder Processes
    2. Involving Users in Content Moderation
  3. An Agile Approach
  4. A Holistic Approach
4. 3 Conclusion
5. References
Esen K. Tütüncü, Danielle Shanley Download chapter (PDF)
1. Biases in Virtual Worlds
2. Sexist and Racist Ideas Have Real World Consequences
3. Hate Speech on Social VR
4. Mitigating Hate Speech on Social VR
5. Discussion
6. References
Julia Ebner Download chapter (PDF)
1. Research Aim and Methods
2. DAOs and the Metaverse
3. Current Use of DAOs
4. Extremist Incentives to Exploit DAOs
5. 1. 1 Influence Campaigns
  2. 2 Radicalisation of Sympathisers
  3. 3 Attacking Political Opponents
6. Conclusions, Future Research and Challenges on the Horizon
7. References
Sandra Kero, Josephine B. Schmitt Download chapter (PDF)
1. Introduction
2. What Do we Understand by Immersion?
3. 1. Presenting the Persona and the Story
  2. Mechanisms of Narrative Persuasion Are Used for Specific Purposes
  3. Emotionalisation of Content
4. 1. Algorithms Determine Relevance and Importance
  2. Dark Patterns as Mechanisms to Enhance Immersion
5. What Is an Effective Preventive Response?
6. Summary and Outlook
7. References
Arne Vogelgesang Download chapter (PDF)
1. Introduction
2. Social VR
3. 1. History and Availability
  2. Economy and Adoption
  3. Aesthetic Concept
4. 1. History and Availability
  2. Economy and Adoption
  3. Aesthetic Concept
5. Virtual Communities
6. Governance
7. References
Mick Prinz Download chapter (PDF)
1. Introduction
2. What do we Mean by Immersive Realities in Video Games?
3. Gaming and the Changing Relationship with Virtual Reality
4. Dark Participation, Toxicity and Gaming
5. Immersive Realities and the Far Right
6. Democracy in VR and Immersive Realities?
7. Conclusion and Appeal for an Democratic Civil Society
8. References
Matthias Quent, Sara Lisa Vogl Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1. Reference to the Metaverse
2. Research Design and Data Collection Methods
3. 1. Social VR Usage
  2. Gender-Identity and Embodiment of Diverse Genders
  3. Experienced Harassment or Hate Speech
  4. Blocking as a Personal and Structural Security Strategy
  5. Potential Legal Consequences of Actions in Social VR
  6. What Should Policy Makers, Regulators or Designers Know about VR Experiences Like VRChat?
4. Discussion
5. References
Deborah Schnabel Download chapter (PDF)
1. How Realistic Can Remembering Be?
2. Metaverse and Beyond
3. Political Education in the Metaverse
4. Excursus: AI, Discrimination and Justice
5. A Counter-Model: IE as Lived Utopia
6. References
Eva Groß, Ulrike Zähringer, Anabel Taefi Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1 Bias Crime and How the Police Handle them in Germany
2. 2 Research Objective and Methods of the Pilot Project: Sensitize Police Officers to the Experiences of Victims of Bias Crime
3. 3 Results
4. 4 Summary and Outlook
5. References
Jonas Fegert Download chapter (PDF)
1. The Evolution of the Metaverse: Opportunities Beyond the Hype?
2. 1. (Digital) Participation
  2. Digital Participation with Immersive Systems
3. Conclusion: Opportunities and Challenges of Public Participation in the Metaverse
4. References
Martin Müller, Matthias C. Kettemann Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1 Introduction
2. 1. 2.1 Regulating the Social Power of Platforms: Digital Services Act (DSA)
  2. 2.2 Regulating the Economic Power of Platforms: Digital Markets Act (DMA)
3. 1. 1. a) Application of the DSA
    2. b) Application of the DMA
    3. c) Applicability of the Other Provisions of Platform Regulation
  2. 3.2 Platform Regulation and "Private Orders" of the Metaverse
4. 4 Conclusion
5. References
Caroline Böck, Matthias C. Kettemann Download chapter (PDF)
1. I. Definition in the Legal Sense
2. II. Regulation of the Metaverse
3. 1. a) Regulatory Approaches
  2. b) Rule-Making by Digital Companies
  3. 2. Preliminary Conclusion
4. III. Regulation in the Metaverse
5. IV. Need for Regulation
6. V. Summary and a Look into the Future
7. References
List of AuthorsPages 239 - 242 Download chapter (PDF)