Regulation of Mass Information by International Law

Abstract

The intensification of the ideological struggle in the international arena makes the question of regulating by law the use of the means of mass information in international relations a pressing one. Normal, good-neighborly relations among states are based on such fundamental principles of international law as respect for sovereignty and nonintervention in the internal affairs of other countries. States are required to adhere to these principles in any activity in which they engage, including the utilization of the mass media at the international level. Adherence to the basic principles of international law in this area is particularly important since the mass media are being actively employed for purposes of ideological struggle. A feature of this struggle is its inevitability and naturalness; no compromises and understandings are possible in it. But the irreconcilability of ideological struggle does not mean that it is permissible to employ therein such means as are incompatible with peaceful coexistence of states with different sociopolitical systems.