Information violence

It is impossible to determine exactly when the concept of informational violence appeared. It is believed that its occurrence is associated with the development of the information society and the spread of the Internet , but this is not so. The ability to carry out informational violence has been available to man since he learned to communicate. The difference between the modern concept and the general one lies only in the fact that in the information society such violence acquires an explicit rather than a latent character, captures much wider sections of society and becomes an entire industry of influence on human consciousness.

According to A.V. Stolyarov ^[2] , there are three main manifestations of informational violence:

Obtaining information without the consent of its owner. It includes such mechanisms of influence as listening to communication channels, espionage , radio interception and other methods of information theft;

Transfer of information without the consent of the recipient. This is exactly the manifestation that is primarily associated with the term "informational violence." The following phenomena belong to it:

• almost all types of existing advertising - at least the one that is delivered through personal communication channels. This includes the distribution of promotional materials by regular or electronic mail and SMS messages, phone calls, as well as any kind of outdoor advertising and advertising in public places. Television and radio advertising does not apply to this type on the grounds that the consumer, including one or another program, gives his consent to view or listen to the advertising material; however, in this case, the reproduction of television or radio programs in public places is an exception;

• propaganda of any kind, regardless of its goals, whether it is the promotion of drugs or a healthy lifestyle;

• missionary activity of various religious denominations or movements;

• the provision of psychological pressure of any kind (everything that is meant by the words “persuade”, “convince”, “inspire”, etc.);

• conducting various demonstrations in public places (which include exclusively open areas, since only in this case random people can become their witnesses);

• trading outside designated areas;

• various Internet mailings, in particular spam ;

• insults;

• begging.

The intervention of third parties in the free exchange of information , proceeding with the consent of all its participants. This type of informational violence includes censorship carried out at the state or other levels of public relations. Censorship here means the prohibition of the transfer or publication of any information, established regardless of the ownership of the means of transmission and publication. For example, editorial censorship is not such a prohibition, because a particular media outlet has an owner who has the right to decide what can be published. The prohibition of the publication of materials emanating from any third parties (including state or municipal authorities) and not based on the exercise of ownership of the media infringes on the rights of the author, editorial staff and the public. Also, a significant part of measures to ensure the institution of intellectual property, in particular exclusive copyright, can be attributed to this type of information violence.

There is also a typology of information violence according to the following principles ^[1] :

• depending on the subject of the violence (individuals, hackers , special services, PR groups, ideological organizations, government agencies, production companies, television and radio companies, scientists, artificial intelligence systems, etc.);
• depending on the object of violence (individual individuals, humanity as a whole, individual social groups, etc.);
• depending on the methods and mechanisms of violence (verbal, non-verbal, audiovisual);
• depending on the degree of manifestation of violence: explicit and latent (falsehood, information hiding, breach of trust), direct and indirect (radio in the bus, at bus stops).

Often the term “informational violence” is used in relation to the concept of informational terrorism. Contrary to prevailing beliefs, this is not the same thing, although the second is clearly a more sophisticated variation of the first.

By definition, N.Yu. Grigoriev and E.B. Rodyukova ^[3] , information terrorism is “a direct impact on the psyche and consciousness of people in order to form the necessary opinions and judgments, in a certain way directing the behavior of people”. Under the influence of information terrorism, a person loses the ability to critically evaluate the information received.

The purpose of information terrorism is to weaken and undermine the constitutional order . Often his result is an information war .

1. Borshchov N.A. Information violence in modern society // Bulletin of the Saratov State Technical University. - 2010.
2. Borshchov N.A. Information violence in a network society // Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. - 2010. - Issue 19 No. 31. - S. 48-52
3. N.Yu. Grigoriev, E.B. Rodyukov. Information terrorism // University Herald. - 2015 .-- S. 175.
4. Kara-Murza S.G. Manipulation of consciousness. - M .: Eksmo, 2005.
5. Stolyarov A.V. Information freedom and information violence. - Moscow. - 2012. - S. 40-43