Deformation of Legal Consciousness in the Age of Digitalisation

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the deformation of legal consciousness in the era of digitalisation as a complex socio-legal phenomenon shaped by the rapid development of digital technologies and the transformation of the information environment. It substantiates that digitalisation significantly alters the ways in which law is perceived, as well as the mechanisms of formation of legal knowledge, evaluations and models of legal behaviour at both individual and collective levels. The study reveals the content of legal consciousness within the information society, identifies the key factors of its transformation, and outlines the characteristic forms of its deformation caused by the digital environment, including legal nihilism, simplified or fragmented perception of law, algorithmised thinking, and a decline in the critical assessment of legal phenomena.

Particular attention is paid to the analysis of both the positive and negative impacts of digitalisation on legal consciousness. The positive effects include expanded access to legal information, increased transparency of public authorities, and the development of e-justice and digital legal services, which contribute to higher legal awareness and greater civic engagement in legal processes. At the same time, the article emphasises that digitalisation generates a number of risks and threats, such as manipulation of legal information, the spread of disinformation, the devaluation of law as a result of its excessive technicisation, and the substitution of legal values with algorithmic decision-making. These processes may lead to persistent and systemic deformations of legal consciousness.

The article argues for the necessity of developing scientifically grounded approaches to minimising the negative consequences of digitalisation for legal consciousness. Such approaches should include the improvement of legal education, the development of legal culture, the strengthening of ethical standards of digital governance, and ensuring a balance between technological innovation and the fundamental values of law.