Metaverse and Education for Sustainable Global Citizenship: Ethical Paradoxes

The emergence of the metaverse and the urgent need for educating sustainable global citizenship raises critical ethical considerations. If on the hand, the metaverse has the potential to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures, creating an international community focused on sustainability and global citizenship. On another hand, given its characteristics as a virtual metaphor, the metaverse can create artificial societies inhabited by alter egos, capable of violent situations, based on the moral uncompromising of individuals under the guise of a fictitious personality. In this article, we intend to reflect on including the metaverse in the education for sustainable global citizenship, alerting to possible ethical dangers that may arise from it, and supporting this reflection methodologically with a bibliometric study on the subject. The metaverse presents an opportunity to integrate ethics, sustainability, and global citizenship into education. The metaverse paradox comprehends the dialectical relationship between the metaverse, ethics, global citizenship, and sustainability, constituting an excellent opportunity to promote ethics education for global citizenship. Harnessing the immersive and interactive nature of the metaverse, individuals can develop a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of global issues and their ethical implications. Educating with and for the metaverse can contribute to the development of an ethical and moral digital consciousness, fostering the development of values and skills such as responsibility, fairness, empathy, and digital literacy, which are essential to empower individuals to take sustainable action and cultivate a global community committed to creating a more sustainable future.