MEDIA SECURITY CRITERIA AS EVALUATIVE GUIDELINES FOR ITS ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL GUARANTEEING

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to define media security criteria as evaluative guidelines for its administrative and legal guaranteeing, to clarify their features and correlation with principles, guarantees and indicators, and to substantiate a system of criteria suitable for assessing the state of the media environment. Methods. The methodological basis of the research consists of general scientific and special legal methods, including analysis, synthesis, generalization, systemic, formal legal and comparative legal methods. Their application made it possible to reveal the content of media security criteria, distinguish them from related categories and determine the administrative and legal significance of the proposed system. Results. It is substantiated that media security criteria are not limited to separate indicators or response tools, but perform an integral evaluative function by combining the normative and factual dimensions of media security. They are proposed to be understood as a system of interrelated scientific guidelines used to assess the protection of the individual, society, the state, media institutions, digital platforms and the communication environment from threats arising in the process of production, dissemination, perception and regulation of media content. The system of criteria includes the legal compatibility of security measures with fundamental rights and freedoms, protection of media actors, editorial independence, reliability and integrity of public communication, transparency of media ownership, financing and intermediary mechanisms of content dissemination, structural pluralism of the media system, media and information literacy of the audience, institutional capacity of actors for prevention, monitoring, response and recovery, as well as legal resilience of democratic public discourse to manipulative information influences. Conclusions. It is proved that media security criteria have applied administrative and legal significance, since they make it possible to assess the necessity, proportionality, procedural transparency, appealability and effectiveness of public intervention in the media sphere. The proposed criteria can be used in improving media legislation, evaluating the activities of public authorities and regulators, developing media literacy programmes, identifying risks related to digital platforms and strengthening mechanisms for protecting journalistic activity and democratic public communication.