Political and legal aspects of the information warfare

Abstract

This article describes the technological features of information warfare and possible lawful mechanisms to counter information attacks. The aim of the article is to analyse the political and legal features of information warfare. The tactics of the aggressor state’s behaviour in a hybrid war was substantiated using the case of the information war between Russia and Ukraine. The channels of information dissemination, which are most often used for disintegration and disinformation purposes, were studied. Problematic issues of the domestic public space that most often appear in the perspective of disinformation attacks on the Internet are determined: the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, reforms in Ukrainian society, temporarily occupied territories and annexed Crimea, corruption in Ukraine. The tactics of confrontation between countries in the information space was analysed — attempts to establish their “security belt” from other actors in international relations and to maintain their own dominant influence in certain regions by spreading misinformation. Promising areas of further research will be the analysis of the peculiarities of the national legal systems’ development in order to counter misinformation in the context of the continuous development of democracy in the world.