Metaverse policing: A systematic literature review of challenges and recommendations

The metaverse is an immersive, interoperable, and decentralized 3D online environment that contributes to the emergence of various metacrimes, presenting unique challenges for metaverse policing. Despite the boom of the metaverse, the existing scholarship on metaverse policing has been limited, disconnected, and disorganized. This study systematically reviews 32 selected studies applying PRISMA 2020 guidelines to establish a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and recommendations of metaverse policing. It identifies five salient challenges: lack of legislative and regulatory frameworks, avatar accountability and anonymity issues, limited metaverse understanding and inadequate policing capabilities, difficulties in evidence handling, privacy concerns, and ethical challenges. It also identifies four plausible recommendations: establishing clarity avatar governance, effectively managing privacy and security issues, improving investigative methodologies, and defining accounting and taxation protocols. The findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive research in metaverse regulation and the development of evidence-based policies to create a secure and well-regulated metaverse environment that will address the unique challenges posed by metacrime. By providing a systematic analysis of metaverse challenges and recommendations, this study contributes to actionable insights for law enforcement agencies, and highlights areas for future research, including the need for legal frameworks, enhanced policing capabilities, and further empirical work to evaluate proposed solutions.