THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS
ISSN (e): 2689-100X
Doi - https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume02Issue06-08
June 2020[
53
LEGAL PROVISION OF INFORMATION SECURITY
AS AN INTEGRAL FACTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF
A PANDEMIC
Abstract
: This article analyzes trends in the use of the Internet, taking into account
the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the problems that arise in practice and their
possible consequences. Based on the analysis, the author has developed appropriate
recommendations and suggestions.
Key words
: Internet, crime, information security, coronavirus, Internet culture, virtual
space, blogger.
Introduction
Today, during the period of quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic around the
world, the Internet space has become a central platform for social, cultural, socio-economic,
as well as legal relations. It should be noted that at the same time, the Internet has become
the main field of action for committing various types of crimes. Thus, the pandemic that
took everyone by surprise created a favorable environment for uncontrolled and
irresponsible use of the Internet. Now the spread of «fakes», slander and insults on the
Internet has become very popular and, unfortunately, already a common event. At a time
of undeniable influence of bloggers and other Internet activists on the formation of public
The American Journal of
Social Science and
Education Innovations
JUNE 2020
Page No. : 53-58
Volume-II Issue-VI
PUBLISHED: 30 JUNE 2020
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Attribution 4.0 licence.
1
Rasulev Abdulaziz,
Professor of the Department of Crime
prevention of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Doctor of Science in Law
2
Sobirov Shokhrukhbek,
Head of department of the
research institute for Legal Policy under Ministry of Justice
of the Republic of Uzbekistan
3
Sadullayev Gayrat,
Teacher of the Department of Crime
prevention of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
of the Republic of Uzbekistan
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION INNOVATIONS
ISSN (e): 2689-100X
Doi - https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume02Issue06-08
June 2020[
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opinion in the information space, it is impossible to underestimate their impact on the
consciousness of users of social networks.
In particular, they undoubtedly have a negative impact on young people, who now
spend almost all their active time in virtual space in the context of distance learning.
Therefore, the current issue on the agenda is how the pandemic affected the use of the
Internet and the behavior of people in the virtual space.
First, information that does not correspond to reality or discredits the honor and dignity
of others has begun to spread on the Internet.
As a result of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the Internet has become a key
resource for people to quickly get information. It is during the coronavirus in the virtual
space increased the flow of various information, which also increased the volume of
unprocessed or false information.
Fakes published on the Internet have become difficult to distinguish due to the following
reasons:
fake news is often disguised as regular news, which is why it is easy to cause panic;
users trust a source with a large number of subscribers, so the bulk, or rather every
fifth fake news falls under existing websites that can easily be found on Google ;
the presence of a huge array of fakes, which makes it difficult to determine reliable,
and therefore legitimate information. For example, in 2019, the analytical center
«Medialogiya» revealed an increase in fake news reports by 30%, in 2018, the use of the
phrase «fake news» in the Internet space increased by 365%. All this certainly indicates
that fake news is entering the usual use of the information space.
In our opinion, these problems require consistent, but at the same time not repressive
measures, in particular, they require the creation of information and analytical Centers for
monitoring the media and social networks, as well as other resources on the Internet under
the Public Fund for support and development of national mass media, established at the end
of January 2020.
Secondly, the predominant content on the Internet clearly indicates a low level of legal
awareness, and also contributes to a decrease in the level of trust on the Internet.
In recent months, the Internet has seen a certain decline in the level of legal awareness
of the population. Examples of this are numerous instances of insubordination to authorities,
which are expressed in violation of the rules of quarantine, established prohibitions, as well
as public peace and security. Thus, it is regrettable to note that 51,182 administrative
offences were committed during the first month of quarantine, which indicates that certain
categories of offenders did not accept or ignore the established prohibitions. Such offences
may seem insignificant at first glance, but they may become a prerequisite for more serious
crimes in the future. Also of particular concern is the low culture and nihilism of individuals
who are celebrities and undoubtedly enjoy a certain authority among ordinary people. These
individuals not only set a bad example by their actions, but also create a sense of collective
irresponsibility among the population.
Evidence of low legal awareness is also insufficient knowledge and worldview. Analysis
of texts on the Internet has shown that every year the number of cases of using illiterate
and sometimes absolutely absurd, primitive texts is growing rapidly. According to the site
https://hype.tech almost every internet-user makes mistakes, including abbreviations and
other errors. About 2 percent of users can't correctly identify the endings of words. It is also
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worth noting that public criticism of their illiteracy sometimes causes discontent, great
indignation of the Internet community, due to the overwhelming number of them. Such
cases may indicate that the Internet to a certain extent «encourages» the illiteracy of users.
Today, one of the most common problems of trust in the Internet has become cyber
fraud. In the last two or three years, the number of scams in the Internet segment has
increased significantly for a number of reasons. So, with the emergence and growth of mass
popularity of such a phenomenon as social networks, the number of Internet users who
came to the Internet in order to search for their friends and acquaintances has also
increased, which is actively used by fraudsters themselves, luring «victims» into virtual
relationships. On the other hand, the spread of such social services has become a kind of
discredit to the trust of users, especially in cases where there are cases of spam and phishing
that violate information security and contribute to the extortion of electronic money on the
Internet.
In general, the problem of legal awareness and trust in the Internet is a complex
problem. In this regard, it is necessary to create a special Internet culture on the part of
users of the virtual space by conducting courses and introductory lessons (including video
lessons that can be viewed offline), electronic and printed brochures and other visual
materials.
Third, the information available on the Internet can cause various kinds of conflicts to
be ignited.
In the context of global freedom of speech and the large-scale expansion of the use of
information and communication technologies, it is almost impossible to ensure the reliability
and public utility of the information distributed. It is known that today absolutely active
Internet users, and especially bloggers, have the most impulsive and real impact on public
consciousness, a clear example of this is the media. At the same time, bloggers, unlike other
media, can post information of various kinds. According to statistics, users prefer to use the
Internet the most to access political information (54%), medical information (46%), or
information about government authorities (42%). Most of all, in the world, getting political
information from the Internet is observed in the Arab countries: Tunisia (72%), Libya (70%)
and Egypt (68%). However, information about the activities of terrorist organizations is not
excluded. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Friendica are the main propagandists
of the Islamic state that effectively use Western communication technologies to cover the
war zone and recruit foreign citizens. Thousands of accounts, the use of Twitter Storm
during combat operations to create panic behind enemy lines, thousands of videos of
supporters of the movement and tens of millions of views attest to the destructive power of
the impact of information. These media resources mainly operate on the world wide web
due to its total availability.
In our view, the fight against this negative phenomenon is effective only if law
enforcement officers are properly qualified, which requires the creation of a specialized
center for countering cyber threats as a special unit of the State Security Service of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, which will be assigned the task of taking measures to prevent and
prevent virtual threats to the security of individuals, society and the state.
Fourth, the conditions of the pandemic clearly highlighted the inconsistencies of
legislation in terms of regulating relations on the Internet.
The period of quarantine in connection with the pandemic has shown that the only thing
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worse than a coronavirus can be a panic due to a coronavirus. In this regard, the rapid
response measure was
№
5969 «On priority measures to mitigate the negative impact on
the economy of the coronavirus pandemic and global crisis phenomena» dated March 19,
2020.
Every day, various social networks, messengers or websites on the Internet contain
fake news about mass infection and death of people, about the depletion of food resources,
about the introduction of a curfew or state of emergency. Law enforcement agencies have
to deal with this problem 24 hours a day. For several months now, Governments of all
countries have been reminding their populations of their responsibility for spreading false
information. Thus, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A. Aripov held a meeting
on the prevention of coronavirus in early 2020 and indicated that the state is taking
measures to prevent and prevent the spread of the disease . In turn, as the head of the
Special Republican Commission for the preparation of a Program of measures to prevent
the import and spread of coronavirus in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Prime Minister takes
a number of important measures and rules, compliance with which is aimed at preventing
the spread of coronavirus.
A number of Internet resources and social networks have launched their own
information campaigns to inform users about the situation, which are confirmed by official
sources. For example, the Ministry of health of the Republic of Uzbekistan has launched a
website to promptly inform the population of official information about coronavirus in
Uzbekistan coronavirus.uz and his channel in the telegram messenger «Coronavirus Info».
All these measures indicate the priority of providing the population with reliable information
about the status of measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic.
Around the world, the Internet has increased the spread of fakes about the coronavirus.
So, in Austria, an audio recording was distributed, in which a woman says in an agitated
voice that she is in the hospital, and everyone who has severe symptoms of the coronavirus
was taking ibuprofen. The woman introduces herself as Pauline, the mother of a girl named
Poldy. This is fake: doctors did not name ibuprofen as the cause of activation of the
coronavirus, but users willingly shared the record, misleading their loved ones.
One of the problems during the coronavirus was the lack of legislation establishing
responsibility for the dissemination of false information about the coronavirus, as well as
failure to comply without good reason in the conditions of the occurrence and spread of
quarantine and other dangerous infections of the requirements for medical examination,
treatment and arrival in places designated for quarantine and non-abandonment of these
places in the established period, disclosure of information about individuals, with whom
there was contact and places of visit during the period of risk of infection with the disease,
as well as other legal requirements of the state sanitary supervision authorities. The solution
to this problem, though belated, was the amendments to article 54 Liabilities and article
257
1
of the criminal code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as establishing the criminal
liability of dissemination of untrue information about the spread of quarantine and other
dangerous for human infections in the emergence and spread of quarantine and other
dangerous for human infections.
It should be noted that one of the problems of today's information space is the freedom
and irresponsibility of some bloggers. Of course, the free use of information and
communication technologies and the Internet can lead to certain negative consequences.
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Like any other state, the Republic of Uzbekistan also intends to address the issue of
preventing the spread of negative content. Considering the problems of the negative impact
of the Internet on people's minds, we can note that in our doctoral dissertation and scientific
articles published within it, we pointed out a comprehensive approach to solving problems.
For this purpose, we consider it appropriate to adopt a State program for the formation of
Internet culture, which includes a set of measures
–
conducting trainings, special courses
in educational institutions, preparing and distributing propaganda materials (flyers, stands,
presentations) in the media and the Internet. In these circumstances, social measures are
particularly important, which are aimed at creating awareness among people, in particular
young people, of the dangers and negative consequences of crimes in the field of information
technology and security.
At the same time, the Association of young people should be voluntary and
independent, and not be dictated in an administrative way from above. It seems appropriate
to create a «club of initiative patriots-programmers», which will be a platform for talented
and creative young people with the necessary knowledge and skills in the field of information
and communication technologies and cybersecurity, a discussion environment and a visual
platform for recruitment in the future. In our opinion, this club should be created under the
youth Union of Uzbekistan with the support of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of
education, the Ministry of Innovative Development with the involvement of leading
specialists, experts and analysts. The creation of this club can serve as a bright case of an
open dialogue with young people, a kind of preventive center for the prevention and
identification of persons with a tendency to commit information offenses, as well as their
education in the spirit of patriotism, respect for the law and participation in the construction
of a developed state and information society.
The second side of the problem is the lack of specific measures of legal responsibility.
At the same time, the legislation provides for existing prohibitions on «using» the Internet
in a negative sense. According to article 12
1
Of the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «On
informatization», the owner of a website and (or) a website page, including a blogger, is
obliged to prevent the use of their website and (or) a website page in the world information
network of the Internet, which contains publicly available information, in order to:
calling for forcible changes to the existing constitutional order and territorial integrity
of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
propaganda of war, violence and terrorism, as well as ideas of religious extremism,
separatism and fundamentalism;
disclosure of information constituting state secrets or other secrets protected by law;
dissemination of information that incites national, racial, ethnic or religious hostility, as
well as discrediting the honor and dignity or business reputation of citizens, allowing
interference in their private life;
promotion of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;
propaganda of pornography;
committing other actions that entail criminal and other liability in accordance with the
law.
However, the above actions do not entail liability under either the administrative Code
or the criminal code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, so appropriate measures should be taken
to establish responsibility, namely administrative and criminal liability for illegal actions of
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the blogger. In turn, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of closing websites or other
resources on the Internet only by a court decision, since the court is the final instance that
administers justice.
Thus, in conclusion, it should be noted that the main key step in solving the above-
mentioned problems is the formation of a kind of Internet culture, the implementation of
which should be carried out not with tools of a repressive, but educational nature. It is
thanks to the conscious choice of the optimal algorithm for the behavior of a person in the
information and communication space that it is possible to protect information security in
the virtual space. It is also important to take appropriate institutional and organizational
measures to ensure the protection of the interests of individuals, society and the state in
the virtual space.
References:
1. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan «
О
n Informatization».
2. https://runet.rbc.ru/
3. https://www.mlg.ru/
4. https://www.gazeta.uz/
5. https://pv.uz/ru/
6. https://hype.tech/
7. https://www.saferunet.ru/
8. www.statista.com
9. https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-52066878
