Vadim Vladimirovich Balytnikov

Today, scientific discussions are gaining strength all over the world concerning the problems of determining truly effective forms and methods of legal regulation of social power, which is provided by the possession of gigantic global data arrays accumulated, analyzed and used in a digital network environment. In fact, modern technologies make it possible to build, on the basis of this kind of data, perfectly disguised algorithmic mechanisms for information management of the behavior of both the masses of people and each individual user of the modern Global Network. The existing legal environment turned out to be unprepared for a real solution to such problems — not only because it did not comprehend them doctrinally in time, but also because it turned out to be unprepared from an instrumental and technological point of view. The existing forms and methods of legal regulation (the current provisions of regulations and sanctions for their violation) are almost universally ignored by the real subjects of digital network media power (that is, the «digital class» of aggregators, owners and administrators of «big data»). Apparently, the time has come to regulate digital network media power with the help of a digital, network software and hardware legal environment adequate to its nature of online control, analysis of situations and making legal decisions (including in real time). The technical and technological means that make up this environment will not replace lawyers), just as neither typewriters nor computers have replaced the head and hand of a writer.