The Concepts of Aggressive Information Impact through the Lens of Internet Users’ Worldview Security

Abstract

This article is devoted to the forensic analysis of the factors (cyberthreats) determining a negative information impact on recipients’ worldview in the Internet environment (changes in values, emotional perceptions, and expressions of will, etc.). Findings are founded on the concepts of deviant and delinquent speech behavior, the authors also outline definitions of criminogenic, aggressive, destructive, harmful, conflictogenic, and discrediting (defamatory) information and define the semantic field ‘destructiveness of information impact’. The research is based on an interdisciplinary legal and linguistic approach and uses methodology of information law (cyberlaw) and forensic speech science (forensic linguistics) for integral examination of aggressive information products (that are threatening worldview security of Internet communication) in several ways: 1) as speech actions related to law violations (verbal components that reflect actus reus of crimes, administrative offences, and civil torts); 2) as a result of communication activity; 3) as a source of forensically valuable information. The article covers such worldview security threats as defamation; libel; insult; propaganda of drugs, pornography, gambling, violence and cruelty, murder, autodestructiveness (including suicide), extremism (including terrorism); cyberbullicide; cybersuicide; cybergrooming; sexting; sex blackmail; doxing; outing; faking; astroturfing; cybertrolling; flaming; cyberbullying; cybermobbing; harassment; impersonation; exclusion (ostracism); stigmatization; cyberstalking; threats; hating; ‘happy slapping’, etc. The authors formulated the list of offenses, entailing the commitment of criminogenic and conflictogenic speech actions (in accordance with the current Russian civil, administrative and criminal legislation), as well as the list of types of information prohibited or restricted in distribution as harmful to the health and development of children (according to the current Russian legislation) are of urgent applied significance