Supervision and Control of the Internet as an Instrument of the Information Security Policy in Contemporary States

Abstract

Information in the modern world is a strategic resource that decisive the competitive advantage of countries on the international arena. In order to ensure the appropriate quality of the information resources held as well as the processes and mechanisms of their acquisition, processing and protection, individual countries develop and implement an information security policy. The implementation of this policy is supported by various instruments, among which the supervision and control of the Internet deserve attention. The aim of the article is to discuss the supervision and control of the Internet as an instrument of information security policy, considering the specificity of democratic, totalitarian and authoritarian states. For the purposes of the research, the method of analyzing the literature and the method of synthesis were used. It has been proven that, regardless of the political regime, state-owned entities use Internet supervision and control, while the main objectives of these activities are different. In democratic countries, it is primarily for the protection and defense of cherished social values and goods,  in totalitarian and authoritarian countries for the realization of the particular interests of those in power.