It is indicated that the legislation already includes the concepts of cybercrime and computer offense, which cover digital specifics: processing of personal data; cyberattacks; interference with the operation of systems; distribution of fakes or deepfake. However, these categories do not include the specifics and nature of the information with which the acts are committed. The article is devoted to the theoretical and legal analysis of the phenomenon of information offence, which is gaining increasing relevance in the context of digital transformation of society. The study reveals the prerequisites for the formation of a new legal category – “information offence” – as a complex phenomenon encompassing a wide range of unlawful acts related to the creation, processing, transmission, storage, or destruction of information, regardless of its form. The author explores the development of international and national legislation in the fields of cybersecurity, information technologies, and personal data protection, in particular by analyzing the provisions of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, its implementation in the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and other legislative acts that constitute the foundation of information law. Special attention is paid to the contemporary challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence in law enforcement, as well as the threats arising from it – including violations of privacy rights, data breaches, and a decline in public trust towards law enforcement authorities. The article offers the author’s vision of the structure of an information offence, identifies its objective and subjective elements, and defines its object as the totality of legally protected social relations involving information. Emphasis is placed on the interdisciplinary nature of information law as the basis for shaping effective legal policy in the field of information security. The proposed definition of information offence is intended to serve as a foundation for further academic research and legal development in this domain. The author reflects on the appropriateness of distinguishing informational liability as an independent legal phenomenon that emerges at the intersection of traditional branches of law but possesses its own grounds, mechanisms of influence, and forms of implementation in the context of digital transformation of society.
Світлана Мазепа (Sun,) studied this question.