Manipulation as an element of the political process in social networks

The relevance of the research comes from the extent of the influence of information and communication technologies in socially significant areas, where the manipulation of public consciousness, in the Internet space, particularly in social networks, is an obvious phenomenon. The aim of the study was to discuss the opinion that the main driving factor in the use of social networks, as a proven platform for the manipulation of public consciousness, has been increased by social restrictions on personal contacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. General and special research methods were employed to achieve the stated objective. It is concluded that, despite the obvious advantages of the use of social networks in the political process, the political manipulations that currently exist in the virtual environment are often of a destructive nature and carry hidden symbolic threats to destabilize the life of a given country, as well as to worsen the quality of life of each of its citizens. Most of the time, political manipulations in the virtual environment take place at various stages of the electoral process.