Stadnyk A. Information wars as a factor influencing the state of public opinion

The dissertation is devoted to the study of information wars as an important factor influencing the mass consciousness and public opinion of the population. The sociological approach to analyzing the problem is highlighted, which differs in some ways from the most frequently used contemporary information warfare as a component of the traditional or hybrid war. It is seen as a communicative process that takes place in a society during the information warfare and seriously affects, first of all, the formation and functioning of public opinion in both the country that has become the object of an information war and the country acting as an aggressor. It is in this way that the main tasks of modern information warfare are the most significant part of the Ukrainian population, which was discovered in the process of sociological research. The main forms of influence on public opinion in the process of information war are considered, namely propaganda, public relations and political advertising. And also other means of information weapons, including mass media, the Internet, means of visual agitation, means of oral propaganda, and others. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of varieties of the main forms of influence on the population and the methods and technologies used in similar activities. Considerable attention is also paid to considering various aspects of organizing and conducting a modern information war between Ukraine and Russia.