Manipulation of public opinion trough virtual communities

Tis article is devoted to analyzing forms of manipulating public opinion that use social networking and other virtual communities. Te author also searches for methods to counteract anti-religious information campaigns spread in the electronic mass media. In the article, the author explores the mechanisms that artificially formulate public opinion via mass commentary in social networks (astroturfing), describes the system for determining information injections developed by I. Ashmanov, and offers recommendations for counteracting anti-Orthodox information campaigns in the social media