Guarantees of citizens’ right to information using digital technologies

Abstract

The development of citizens’ right to access information, which is also known as the «right to know,» is actively occurring in many countries at the beginning of the 21st century, which is associated with the development of democracy. Many industrialized countries of the world adopted this path only after the end of World War II. The value of the right to access information in the use of digital technologies for developing democracies is that it is one of the main ways citizens can participate in government public life. Access to information and freedom of access to official documents are also considered as means of control over the actions of authorities and indicators of the state of democracy, as well as as a means of achieving openness and transparency in the activities of government bodies. The article discusses a number of conditions that ensure that Russian citizens are informed about the activities of the state. Informing citizens by public authorities in a social society is of utmost importance. Russian legislation in the information sphere, which provides legal guarantees for the implementation of information rights and freedoms of humans and citizens, is currently following the development path of «providing everyone with access to information using digital technologies.» In the context of the digitalization of public administration and the development of the information society, it should be noted that the methods of information activity in legal science and the methods of their implementation have not yet received sufficient understanding. It is concluded that in order to fully understand modern trends and develop the right of citizens to information, it is necessary to constantly improve legislation on access to information. However, the simple introduction of modern digital technologies into the activities of government authorities will not lead to the desired results of the development of modern Russia in the conditions of digitalization. Therefore, it is necessary to expand guarantees of citizens’ right to information, as well as to ensure constant digital interaction between officials and citizens, which will help achieve greater openness of public authorities.