메타버스 내 아동ㆍ청소년 대상 범죄에 관한 연구: 신문기사 내용분석을 중심으로

초록

Although crime risks against children and juveniles in the Metaverse are sharply increasing, not enough research has focused on this problem. This paper aimed to examine the current situation of crimes against children and juveniles in the Metaverse and find an effective policy response against it. To fulfill the aim, we conducted a content analysis on 122 newspaper articles collected through the BIGKinds, the news big data analyzing service of the Korea Press Foundation. The main findings are as follows: sex crime was the most critical crime type in the Metaverse. The psychological and social characteristics of children and juveniles, the specificity of the Metaverse, legal limitations of punishment, and response problems of Metaverse platforms and investigative agencies were confirmed as representative characteristics of crimes against children and juveniles occurring in the Metaverse. In addition, we confirmed experts' opinions and various existing countermeasures. Based on the results, we discussed the implications and limitations of the study.

키워드