Abstract

We have grown accustomed to phenomena such as online theft (e.g. data or virtual artifacts in online games), malware infection, cyberbullying. The nature of cyberspace, especially the attractiveness of virtual forms of entertainment, promotes the emergence of new forms of crime, resulting in new legal challenges, not only in the area of private law but also criminal law. Currently, cybercrime may include a wide range of activities using information and communication technologies. Users of virtual worlds feel anonymous and often act with impunity. Therefore, the Internet makes it possible to build a virtual reality in which aggression reigns.
This article addresses the crime of defamation in a virtual world (i.e. metaverse) and the criminal liability associated with this act. The discussion focuses on the admissibility of the offense of defamation in the metaverse, i.e. the possibility of slandering a user acting through an avatar.