Mechanism of legal culture formation among digital citizens

This article studies the mechanism of formation of the legal culture of digital citizens, a concept that reflects the genesis, development, semantic content, and role of this phenomenon amid digital social transformations. The study aims to analyze the mechanism by which the legal culture of digital citizens forms, detailing its stages and components. The research employs methods including systemic, logical, modeling and generalization, forecasting, formal-legal, comparative-legal, and cultural analysis. The concept of legal culture of digital citizens emerges from synthesizing three scientific phenomena: legal culture, citizenship, and digital culture, each contributing distinctive features and attributes. To understand the complex dynamics and consistent functional interaction between traditional elements of legal culture and new elements of citizens’ digital culture, a mechanism design is proposed. This mechanism includes the following stages: acquiring digital competencies; awareness, consolidation and development of digital identity; mastering and reinforcing core digital values and standards of digital thinking; and forming socially active and responsible digital behavior. The mechanism’s components specify the objectives for each stage: digital knowledge, skills, and abilities; digital identity; values and standards of digital thinking; and motivational attitudes fostering lawful and socially active digital behavior. The significance of this mechanism for legal science and practice lies in preserving and advancing humanistic and axiological approaches to defining the individual’s role within the digital society’s legal systen, recognizing the cultural value of digital principles in a citizen’s legal status, and optimizing legal regulation of relations among digital citizens, digital society, and public authorities.