Social Media as a Tool of Socio-Political Destabilisation of Society: Lessons, Trends, Prospects

The article analyses the stages of information confrontation in social networks aimed at transforming protest activity from a virtual space into real life in the form of street actions and practical actions to change the current socio-political situation. The author considers one of the critical threats of social media to the socio-political stability of society the attempts of using them to influence changes in the collective psychology, motivation and behaviour of citizens. The author gives examples of the IT industry and government agencies of the United States, whose cooperation provides the United States with unprecedented opportunities to influence the global information space and analyses the experience and methodology of political mobilisation of the masses in social networks during the events of the Facebook revolution in Egypt 2010–2011. Based on the understanding of the real experience, the author identifies the stages and methods of reformatting virtual protest activity in the real one, as well as identifies the biographical features of the leaders of online protest movements and proposes measures to counteract the information threats of social media. According to the author, one of the most effective mechanisms to counter the threats of social media is the implementation of a comprehensive state identity policy focused on maintaining and developing the existing pivot points of the consensus collective national identity of the society.

social networks, social media, information security, cyberspace, the methodology of mass mobilisation in social networks, political psychology, information policy, identity policy, value sovereignty, information confrontation

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