Robotization of social media and its political implications

The article analyzes the role of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution in the development of network space and online political communication. The authors believe that the consequence of social networks’ technological update is their gradual dehumanization: human users are replaced with generated virtual identities (software bots). The authors demonstrate that one of the objectives in the development of robotic network agents is the exertion of political influence and the promotion of ideological and value attitudes in the interests of certain political actors. The authors emphasized that the use of political bot technologies leads to a polarization of public sentiment and an increase in potential for conflict both in the virtual world and in an offline political space. The ethical aspects of social networks’ robotization, as well as the problems associated with identifying bots and minimizing the social and political risks of their expansion in the network environment, are studied. The authors conclude that a value-oriented approach to the development and implementation of innovative technologies is required, and that it is extremely important for professional communities, state institutions and civil society to draw attention to socio-political aspects of technological progress.