LEGAL REGULATION OF MESSENGERS AS A NEW FORM OF MEDIA IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Abstract

The article analyzes the features of the use of messengers according to the intended purpose of mass media. Since messengers have all the features characteristic of mass media, however, they are not subject to legal regulation as separate and autonomous elements of the information space. In fact, there is no legal regulation of messengers as containing features of mass media. Instead, the real influence of messengers and social media is quite high. This is expressed in their ability to spread information, which can both positively and negatively affect society and the state. The use of messengers and social media in the course of organizing informational and psychological operations becomes important. The enemy actively uses messengers and social media to spread propaganda, disinformation and information and psychological special operations. Such activities are aimed at destabilizing Ukrainian society, discrediting the Ukrainian government, worsening Ukraine's reputation at the international level, etc. This trend indicates the vulnerability of state security and the legal system to the latest threats in the information sphere. This issue was especially clearly actualized during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, because it was messengers and social media that were to become the main tool of informational aggression and spread panic within Ukrainian society. Regulation of the activities of social media and messengers is one of the most important areas of improvement of information legislation at the current stage of development of the legal system of Ukraine. It is able to optimize the use of messengers and social media and minimize the possibility of using information resources to harm Ukrainian society and the state. Therefore, it becomes obvious the need to regulate the activity of the newest means of information communication and their importance not only in the sustainable processes of the state's development, but also in the context of the Ukrainian-russian war.