WEF Document Seeks Global Government & Digital ID for Life “Within” the Internet
The World Economic Forum (WEF) published a white paper in November detailing the need for global governance due to life within a future internet or ‘metaverse’ as well as how digital methods of verifying a user’s identity are necessary, as well as mentioning the role of biometric sensors.
Note that the ‘metaverse’ the document referred to is a general term for a ‘blended reality’ within the future internet, not necessarily the proper noun Meta, a specific system associated with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, which is itself, a specific metaverse project.
The white paper Shared Commitments in a Blended Reality: Advancing Governance in the Future Internet discussed the theoretical management and governance of future information technology (IT) systems designed for humans to experience a broader digital life within.
The white paper declared that the need for global government is urgent due to the internet’s continuing advancement.
“Current internet governance is decentralized and fragmented, highlighting the urgent need for collaborative global governance frameworks,” the white paper said on page 8.
The white paper defined what this future digital ‘life’ consists of and posits that governance must evolve to incorporate itself into the management of such systems.
“The convergence and adoption of key emerging technologies – like extended reality (XR) paired with artificial intelligence (AI), 6G, internet of things (IoT), blockchain, robotics, digital twins, etc. – is propelling the internet into a new ‘blended reality’ often referred to as ‘the metaverse’ or the ‘future of the internet’,” the white paper said on page 4. “Some technologists believe that the metaverse is the experience layer – or interface layer – of the future internet, which will be underpinned by scaling technologies like XR hardware, AI and distributed ledger technology (DLT) (including blockchain and other applications). This blended reality requires a cohesive governance approach that considers the expanding interplay between digital networks, hardware, software, data and the norms and expectations of physical reality. This report outlines a vision for how governance must evolve to meet the unique challenges posed by this new blended reality paradigm.”
The white paper said that as these new technologies develop, so do their potentially deleterious impacts on internet users. It should be noted that the document defines ‘commitments’ as guiding concepts, not specific obligations.
“Digital spaces have long been a forum for pronounced cyberbullying, harassment, abuse, exploitation, privacy violation, etc. Physical-digital blended spaces will see exacerbated forms of these issues,” the white paper said on page 14. “In blended reality, people cannot ‘unsee’ or ‘un-experience’ interactions. While people cannot unsee or un-experience reality today, the types of spatial experiences a person could be exposed to bring dynamic, evolving, palpable and visceral experiences. This underscores the urgency of refining and implementing a set of guiding commitments.”
As such, the document promotes the necessity of digital identification to link one’s internet use back to their real life identity for the purposes of accountability.
“Identification management: This involves enabling appropriate and suitable identity access management measures of people interacting with information technology (IT) systems to enable governance through such systems. This might include, as necessary, aspects of personal identity, digital identity, entities or digital assets and their associated ownership,” the white paper said on page 17.
Infowars recently reported on biometric digital identification systems which are currently being utilized to link a physical body (biometrics) to digitized information. Regarding the use of biometrics as they relate to internet activity, biometric sensors play a pivotal role in this internet ‘transformation’, according to the white paper.
“Hardware devices – such as smartphones, biometric and IoT sensors, and XR headsets – play a pivotal role in this transformation by reshaping how individuals interact with the internet and each other,” the white paper said on page 7. “These technologies are blurring the line between online and offline lives, creating new challenges and opportunities that require a coordinated and informed approach from stakeholders for effective navigation and governance.”
“Blurring the line between online and offline lives” may indicate an internet user’s online activity being linked to attributes of their physical bodies, such as their fingerprints or eyeballs scans.
The white paper also discussed how these future technologies present an opportunity to redefine global government operations (referred to as global multistakeholder collaboration) as it relates to the internet.
“This white paper operates on the premise that the metaverse represents a critical opportunity to redefine the norms of today’s internet and, specifically, internet governance. As technologies advance, these new innovations and their governance – across business units, geographies and jurisdictions – present an opportunity to redefine norms and create a safe, inclusive, accessible, resilient and equitable metaverse. This future state, however, can only be achieved if stakeholders from industry, government, academia and civil society align on a human-first approach, ensuring that the metaverse and its supporting technologies are socially and economically beneficial for everyone,” the white paper said on page 3. “Achieving this vision requires technology-agnostic, durable commitments to implementing impactful future governance. This document outlines those commitments and calls for global multistakeholder collaboration to deliver them.”
Chiefly, ‘stakeholders’ are those who have this ‘opportunity for change’. The WEF has promoted the idea of ‘stakeholder capitalism’ which is ‘a global economy that works for progress, people and planet’ according to Klaus Schwab’s book on the subject. In other words, it is the strengthening of global corporate control in the realm of governance that prioritizes the values deemed important by the WEF.
“By adopting these commitments, stakeholders can shape a future internet that balances innovation with responsibility. The next steps involve aligning global standards and policies with these commitments and creating multistakeholder forums to drive collaboration,” the white paper said on page 4.
A disclaimer is provided within the document on page 2:
“This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders”.
yogaesoteric
December 17, 2024