Introduction of Censorship by Foreign Internet Platforms

Abstract

Internet platforms have considerable power over information flows on a global scale in the conditions of mass digitalization of modern life. Currently, Internet platforms can control the ability of self-expression of billions of Internet users, including Russian ones. The concentration of the most popular platforms in the United States, where there is a vacuum of legal regulation of Internet platforms that enjoy legal protection as distributors of information along with the press and other types of media, has led to the fact that Internet platforms are actively creating a system of censorship of information, carefully masking such censorship and giving it the appearance of conscientious moderation aimed at combating extremism, false information, aggression, and other illegal phenomena. Censorship in its digital incarnation is fundamentally different from censorship that existed in the past. If earlier censorship used to be based on normative regulation and was regulated in detail, now it is hidden and it uses new technical opportunities. Being a product of the American political system, Internet platforms censorship is based on the political preferences of their leadership. Using historical and legal analysis, including analysis of the history of censorship since its appearance and transformation into the state institution, the author concludes that Internet platforms censorship represents a new phenomenon that has not been described in detail before, requiring reflection in legislation in order to ensure protection of the constitutional rights of users. Effective protection of the constitutional rights of Internet users is impossible without legislative prohibition of Internet platforms censorship and international cooperation aimed at combating this phenomenon.