The article explores the environmental issues of mankind being a negative consequence of unrestrained scientific and technological progress. Environmental issues have become global because they have reached a level that threatens the possibility of life on Earth. More and more scientists are becoming aware of the need to find new moral and ethical regulations that can change the consumer attitude to nature, help them to realize their responsibility towards it. It suggests the idea of the emergence and formation of a new ethics – the ethics of responsibility. That is, modern moral and ethical principles should not only allow humanity to enjoy all the benefits of scientific and technological civilization, but also to warn against the foreseeable possible threats.

The article deals with specifics of Internet communications functioning in the information technology era. The emergence and development of Internet communications in human life promote the creation of virtual reality, which significantly changes the forms of relationships between people. Instead of personal meetings and direct communication, people get used to communicating in virtual space. It affects their professional activity, studying, personal life, leisure, etc. The latest forms of Internet communication not only open up to mankind the unique opportunities for a person’s creative self-realization but also make a new socio-cultural reality. Therefore, it is necessary to study the peculiarities of the new forms of Internet communications’ functioning and their impact on social development.