Corruption in the Context of Digitalization of Public Relations

Abstract

The article discusses some aspects of countering corruption-related crimes, taking into account the current public relations. Over the past twenty — twenty-five years, the most serious transformations have taken place in the society due to the global processes of digitalization of almost all spheres of human activity. It is obvious that these processes are not only positive in the light of the development of information and communication technologies, but also, unfortunately, have a negative component associated with the fact that criminals are actively introducing new ways and means of committing illegal acts. Special attention should be paid to the fact that criminals actively use innovative technologies, committing corruption-related crimes, the fight against which is currently in the focus of attention of both state authorities and the public. Corruption today has acquired "digital" forms, which, accordingly, seriously complicate its prevention, detection and suppression by traditional methods. In this regard, the article considers two main directions. The first one is more criminological in nature and is related to the methods of transmitting information about giving, receiving a bribe, and mediation in bribery. First of all, we are talking about the speed of transmission of such information, its secrecy, the accessibility of citizens to information and communication technologies, which makes it possible to simultaneously and independently of the location, including outside the state, to transmit meaningful information about the circumstances concerning the preparation for giving and receiving a bribe. This, of course, seriously increases the already rather high level of latency of corruption-related crimes. And the second direction presented in the article concerns the issues related to cryptocurrency as a subject of crime, which is an integral part of information globalization.