APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW TO THE CONDUCT OF STATES IN CYBERSPACE: PROBLEMS OF CONSENSUS-BUILDING
Background: determining the parameters of the applicability of international law in cyberspace is one of the priority tasks of the interstate dialogue dedicated to the achieve ments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security. Objective: to identify differences and common points in the positions of states on the application of international law in the field of informatization and telecommunications in the context of international security, contained in the states’ comments on the prelimi nary draft report of the 2020 UN Open-ended working group. Methodology: the research is based on methods of analysis and synthesis, formal legal and comparative legal methods. Results: the approaches of states to resolving the issues of applicability of international law in cyberspace were revealed and studied. Conclusions: only a few states express doubts about the applicability of international law in cyberspace; the main differences in the positions of states concern the mismatch of ideas regarding the application of certain sets of norms to the behavior of states related to the use of ICT; states generally agree on the further joint work in this area; the positions of Russia and the United States leave a greater potential for rapprochement in the future than the categorical statements of many other states that reinforce existing differences.