PLACE AND INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNET ON PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS

Currently the Internet is being used more and more actively and on a larger scale in the interests of various informational influence. It provides a lot of opportunities for shaping public opinion, making political, economic and military decisions, affecting the information resources of unfriendly countries, and spreading specially prepared information, including distorted one. Mass media are also increasingly moving to the Internet, creating their own websites and posting information there. Some mass media have already ceased to be published in printed form, and exit only in electronic form. Also the service of social networks is spreading faster and faster. The development of Internet capabilities and the ever-increasing role of its audience allows to talk about new digital public space formation, which gives society the opportunity to control the government, directly express their opinion on the most important issues using new digital communication channels, which also makes it possible to significantly influence social and political processes in the state. Thus, the main platforms for unifying protesters are not legally registered political public and other organizations, but their websites or social networks. The Internet also allows to receive feedback from consumers of information. All this led to the fact that the Internet has taken a leading position and is chosen as a tool for information campaigns. However along with advantages of using the Internet for informational and psychological influence, its disadvantages should also be taken into account. In the presented article, the authors examine the place and influence of the Internet on public consciousness; reveal the essence, forms and methods of destructive informational influences in social networks; determine the level of challenges and threats in the context of information security of a person, society and the state.