Counteracting the Spread of Socially Dangerous Information on the Internet: A Comparative Legal Study

Abstract

The research is devoted to the analysis of the Russian and foreign practices of countering the dissemination of socially dangerous information by means of the Internet, as well as the forms of the limitation of fundamental rights and freedoms to protect the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of others, to ensure the country’s defense and state security. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the phenomenon of socially dangerous information transmitted with the help of the Internet; to identify the essential features of the proliferation of negative content; to study the legal approaches and the world experience of restricting access to the Internet resources; to consider domestic and foreign practice of detecting and suppressing the dissemination of socially dangerous information by means of the Internet. The necessity of a complex and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the phenomenon of negative content is substantiated. Such approach will allow, in accordance with the modern scientific methodology of cognition, to construct a model explaining the specifics, structure, and dynamics of the dissemination of socially dangerous information in the context of its information-procedural conditioning. The necessity of proportionality of legal measures used for counteracting the threat of socially dangerous information and its real danger is proved, considering that the Internet is an information space symbolizing freedom of action and freedom of self-expression that are inherent in democratic states. The system of monitoring, searching, tracking and analyzing links on the Internet should not conflict with democratic ideals, such as freedom of speech, open communication, and personal privacy. The implementation of any measures to improve the legal regulation of the counteraction to the dissemination of socially dangerous information by means of the Internet should be aimed at harmonization and unification of international norms in this field. Measures are proposed to improve the legal regulation of countering the dissemination of socially dangerous information transmitted through the Internet, as well as to harmonize international norms in this area.