Legal framework for counterterrorism in the digital space

The article analyzes the features of building communication relations in the digital space that are taken into account by terrorist organizations to achieve their criminal goals. It is shown that digital technologies have simplified the propaganda of terrorist ideas and thus contribute to the radicalization and the emergence of the new type of lone terrorist. The author describes four stages of the ongoing self-radicalization (the formation of an aggressive life position; interest in radical teachings and the formation of one's own identity; indoctrination, which includes the process of inculcating radical doctrines; joining the ideology of extremism) and insists that at each of the stages an appropriate legal model of counteraction is necessary. The paper provides a general analysis of the Network Enforcement Act adopted in 2017 in Germany, the provisions of which are partially repeated in the Federal Law of July 1, 2021. No. 236-FZ “On the Activities of Foreign Persons on the Internet Information and Telecommunications Network in the Territory of the Russian Federation”. The article notes the tendency in the countries of Western Europe to strengthen control over the dissemination of information on social networks. It is shown that such initiatives are criticized by human rights organizations due to the introduction of additional restrictions on the institutions of privacy and freedom of speech.