Legal issues of digital citizenship

The artile examines the phenomenon of digital citizenship in legal science. Interest in digital citizenship is driven by the rapid development of digital society and technology, radical transformations of individuals’s identity and legal culture in this era, ambiguity between universal and national understanding of digitalization, interdisciplinary disagreement in scientific views on this phenomenon, and its varying sectoral legal interpretations. The purpose of the study is to identify the legal issues of digital citizenship as a direct subject of study for legal science. Methods applied include formal-legal, socio-legal, concrete sociological, comparative legal, statistical, modeling, forecasting, and cultural studies. Three of the most relevant legal issues of digital citizenship are examined as a legal construct, a comprehensive legal institution, and a distinct phenomenon of modern legal culture. The legal construct of digital citizenship allows for the generalization of typical elements of diverse phenomena and situations united by the attribute “digital” in a citizen’s life. Elements of the digital citizenship construct are proposed as follows: digital education, digital literacy competence, digital identity, digital thinking and digital behavior. A comprehensive legal institution of digital citizenship will ensure the unity of scientific, legislative and applied approaches in precise and effective legal regulation of all areas of public life where digital technologies are integrated. The comprehensive legal institution of digital citizenship may include institutions of e-democracy and e-voting, e-business, e-government, e-justice, and others. Digital citizenship as a phenomenon of legal culture can be measured using quantitative and qualitative methods, reflecting the level of a citizen’s digital maturity through established legal knowledge, skills, values, reflection, and practical experience in the digital environment.