Deciphering the Paradigm Shift of Governance in the Metaverse: A Literature Review

As the metaverse increasingly permeates and transforms various sectors of society, a potential paradigm shift of governance in the metaverse era is underway. Though scholarly works on the metaverse have exponentially increased in the past two years, a systematic investigation of the governance issue of the metaverse is still lacking. As an effort to contribute to this line of research, this paper conducts a comprehensive literature review of the pertinent literature on metaverse governance. Specifically, this paper reviews the scholarly insights on the importance of and difficulties in governing the metaverse, recaps researchers’ debate on the governance mode of the metaverse, and discusses five key issues in the metaverse governance, including increased surveillance risks, regulatory and legal issues, data management, ethical concerns, and implications for individuals. Based on insights gained from the literature review, this paper further summarizes the features of extant research on metaverse governance, identifies research gaps, and proposes future research directions. © 2024 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).