Objective: to critically assess the effectiveness of existing international legal norms under the new challenges of technological progress, related to the development of the data center industry in the Arctic states and the Antarctic.

Methods: the methodological basis of the research is a set of special and general methods of scientific cognition, including methods of comparative law, content analysis, deduction, induction, formal logical method and document analysis. The author turns to interdisciplinary approaches in order to objectively assess the environmental, social and legal risks arising from the data center industry growth in regions with increased climatic and social vulnerability.

Results: the article analyzed international legal acts regulating the functioning of data centers in polar regions. It identified the key risks and divided them into environmental (instability of local ecosystems, lack of adaptability to rapid changes, risk of losing biological diversity, and greenhouse gas emissions) and social (marginalization and violation of the rights of indigenous peoples, loss of traditional cultures and lifestyles, increased social tension). The author points out that new conflicts and challenges will inevitably emerge due to the insufficient effectiveness of national and international regulatory mechanisms. The states the need to create specialized international legal instruments taking into account the specifics of the environmental safety of the polar territories.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, the article provides a comprehensive analysis of the integral risks and drawbacks of the current international legislation on data center industry in the Arctic states and the Antarctic. The author provides a comparative analysis of the normative framework and shows the inconsistency between the “soft law” principles application on the polar regions and the fourth technological revolution. The author substantiates the requirement to create new certification and reporting procedures throughout the lifecycle of data centers, taking into account the legal and cultural context.

Practical significance: the results are focused on improving international and national policies in the sphere of regulating the data center industry and on developing certification and reporting standards that could be effective in the climatic, social and economic conditions of the Arctic states and the Antarctic. The research is aimed at minimizing the negative impact of anthropogenic factors and ensuring a balance between industrial development and the preservation of unique natural and cultural landscapes. 

Objective: to contribute to the concept of neurocrime; to study the current and future risks from the viewpoint of cybersecurity in the context of digitalization and artificial intelligence development.

Methods: the study uses a critical and descriptive analysis of the relationship between cybercrime and neurocrime. It provides a conceptual distinction between the brain-computer interface and its use and describes the differences between neural and mental manipulation. The legal autonomy of crimes against mental integrity in relation to crimes against physical integrity is investigated. The methodological framework includes the analysis of existing prototypes of neurocrimes based on a four-phase brain-computer interface cycle and the study of the features of neurohacking in the context of the metaverse and artificial intelligence technologies.

Results: the study revealed the essential characteristics of neurohacking as the misuse of neural devices to gain unauthorized access to and manipulate neural information. Four main types of brain-computer interface applications subject to neurohacking are identified: neuromedical applications, user authentication systems, video games, and smartphone-based applications. The modalities of neurohacking were established at each phase of the brain-computer interface cycle: manipulations at the stage of neural information input, measuring and recording of brain activity, decoding and classifying neural information, as well as at the stage of the result output. The specific threats of neurohacking in the era of digitalization are analyzed, including immersive attacks and human joystick attacks in the metaverse.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, a comprehensive differentiation of the concepts of neurocrime and cybercrime was carried out, highlighting their specific legal consequences. The author proposed a classification of neurocrimes based on the four-phase cycle of the brain-computer interface. The study substantiated the need to distinguish mental integrity as an independent object of legal protection, different from the protection of physical integrity. For the first time, the features of neurohacking in the context of the metaverse and artificial intelligence technologies were investigated, including the analysis of new types of attacks and threats to neurosecurity.

Practical significance: the study results are important for the development of legal regulation in the field of cybersecurity and the corresponding regulations. The identified types of neurocrimes and their classification can help to create a specialized legislation on the protection of neural data and mental integrity. Practical recommendations on ensuring the neurosecurity of brain-computer interfaces are in demand in medical practice, video game industry, authentication systems, and for the development of smartphone applications.

Objective: to identify specific legal and ethical problems of agentic artificial intelligence and develop recommendations for the creation of protective mechanisms to ensure the responsible functioning of autonomous AI systems.

Methods: the research is conceptual in nature and is based on a systematic analysis of scientific literature on the ethics of artificial intelligence, legal regulation of autonomous systems and social interaction of AI agents. The work uses a comparative analysis of various types of AI systems, a study of the potential risks and benefits of agentic artificial intelligence, as well as an interdisciplinary approach that integrates advances in law, ethics, and computer science to form a comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Results: the research has established that agentic artificial intelligence, possessing the decision-making autonomy and ability to social interaction, creates qualitatively new legal and ethical challenges compared to traditional AI assistants. The main categories of potential harm were identified: direct impact on users through overt and covert actions, manipulative influence on behavior, and cumulative harm from prolonged interaction. The author stipulates the need for distributing responsibility between three key actors: the user, the developer and the owner of the agentic artificial intelligence system.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, the research presents a systematic analysis of the ethical aspects of agentic artificial intelligence as a qualitatively new class of autonomous systems that differ from traditional AI assistants in the degree of independence and social interactivity. The author developed a typology of potential risks of social interaction with agent-based intelligent systems and proposes a conceptual model for the distribution of legal and ethical responsibilities in the user-developer-owner triad.

Practical significance: the research forms the theoretical basis for the development of ethical principles and legal norms governing agentic based artificial intelligence in a growing market for autonomous intelligent systems. The findings will be useful for legislators creating a regulatory framework, developers designing protective mechanisms, as well as organizations implementing agentic artificial intelligence systems in various economic fields.

Objective: to formulate proposals to form a system of subsidiary liability for harm resulting from the use of artificial intelligence systems.

Methods: the research is based on a comprehensive methodological basis, including the abstract logical method for theoretical understanding of the legal nature of artificial intelligence as an object of legal regulation; the method of comparison to analyze the Russian and European legislations on tort liability; generalization to systematize the existing concepts of responsibility distribution between subjects of law; and correlation analysis to identify the relationships between the typology of artificial intelligence systems and the mechanisms of legal responsibility for their functioning.

Results: the study summarizes and systematizes modern theoretical and legal concepts and regulations of the European Union and the Russian Federation on the distribution of subsidiary responsibility for the adverse effects of artificial intelligence. Potential subjects of responsibility were identified, as well as the key factors influencing the distribution of responsibility between them. A multidimensional matrix was developed for responsibility distribution between the subjects, taking into account their impact on the specific artificial intelligence system functioning and the systems typologization under the risk-based approach.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, an original concept is proposed, which combines the differentiation of the subjects’ roles in terms of their real impact on the artificial intelligence results; the differentiation of artificial intelligence systems under the risk-based approach; and the system of legal presumptions of responsibility distribution corresponding to the above two classifications. The novelty lies in the creation of a multidimensional matrix of subsidiary liability, which allows taking into account many factors when determining the subject of responsibility in each specific case of harm caused by artificial intelligence systems, which differs significantly from existing unilateral approaches to this issue.

Practical significance: the research conclusions and suggestions can be used to develop the doctrine of subsidiary responsibility in the field of artificial intelligence use, to develop and modify the legal norms regulating artificial intelligence. The proposed multidimensional matrix of responsibility distribution can serve as a theoretical basis for improving judicial practice in cases of compensation for damage caused by artificial intelligence systems, as well as for creating an effective balance between stimulating the development of AI technologies and ensuring the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities.

Objective: to conceptualize cyberbullying from the viewpoint of law and technoethics; to analyze the power imbalance in the digital environment as a fundamental factor of causing harm online.

Methods: the work uses a conceptual and analytical methodology based on an interdisciplinary analysis of the theoretical provisions of law, technoethics, philosophy of technology, and social psychology. The methodological tools are complemented by constructing unique conceptual models through analyzing the structural factors of the digital space, developing causal relationships and creating a taxonomy of cyberbullying forms. Special attention is paid to the comparative analysis of regulatory approaches of different jurisdictions and the identification of gaps in existing legal norms.

Results: the research established that cyberbullying is a complex multilevel phenomenon that occurs at the intersection of the architectural features of digital platforms, the asymmetry of technological competencies between participants in interactions, and the systemic fragmentation of legislative regulation. It identified the critical gaps in key international legal instruments, manifested in the lack of unified definitions of cyberbullying, insufficiently elaborated mechanisms for cross-border cooperation, and irrelevant addressing of the digital environment specifics. The author analyzed the fundamental ethical issues related to automated content moderation based on machine learning algorithms, the distribution of responsibility between platforms, government regulators and individual users, and the contradictions between ensuring security and maintaining user autonomy. Four main types of power imbalances were identified: technological, informational, social, and institutional; each of them requires specific strategies to overcome.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, the article proposed a comprehensive approach to analyzing cyberbullying as a structurally determined abuse of digital power through the prism of technoethics. The developed conceptual models provide new tools for understanding the distributed nature of responsibility in the digital ecosystem and forming ethically sound prevention strategies. The author introduced a concept of information misuse as a central mechanism of systematic abuse of power in the digital environment.

Practical significance: the research is aimed at legal scholars, public officials, and digital platform developers. It offers practical solutions in the fields such as ethical audit of algorithms, creation of hybrid moderation systems involving artificial intelligence and humans, formation of international task forces, and development of human rights-based principles of digital literacy. The author’s proposals may help to create a safer, more accountable and inclusive digital environment for all participants.

Objective: to develop a new theoretical framework that challenges the traditional classification of electronic evidence as a subtype of material evidence and suggests considering it as a qualitatively new legal phenomenon with its own independent legal nature in the context of applicable European legislation.

Methods: the work uses the doctrinal method for the legal analysis of applicable European legislation, including Regulation (EU) 2023/1543 and Regulation (EU) 910/2014 (eIDAS), as well as their direct application in the national legal systems of the European Union member states. A comparative legal approach was used to identify differences between theoretical views and case law. A technological analysis of digital information was performed; specific examples were explained to illustrate the problems associated with the collection and use of electronic evidence within the European legislation framework.

Results: the author proposes a new doctrinal understanding of electronic evidence as an independent category that differs from traditional material evidence in its digital nature and specific characteristics. The introduction of European regulations requires rethinking the legal nature of electronic evidence as a qualitatively different legal phenomenon. It was established that treating electronic evidence as material one creates a risk of legal uncertainty, while the lack of appropriate legal regulation hinders effective law enforcement.

Scientific novelty: for the first time, the research proposes to overcome the established paradigm and identify electronic evidence as an independent legal category in the system of evidence types. The article substantiates the unique digital nature of electronic evidence and the need to create an independent legal framework in various national legislations. It is proposed to improve scientific terminology using the term “electronic evidence”, which corresponds to the legal definitions in the legislation under study, instead of the outdated term “digital evidence”.

Practical significance: the work contains specific practical recommendations for the use of electronic evidence in the procedures for its identification, storage, presentation and analysis in various court proceedings in accordance with applicable supranational legislation. The research helps to overcome outdated ideas about the legal nature of electronic evidence and their incorrect identification with material evidence. This is important for effective law enforcement in the European Union member states.

Objective: to examine the impact of cybercrimes on e-commerce related transactions in Cameroon and evaluate the effectiveness of the legal provisions in force that counteract cyberthreats.

Methods: The research is based on the utilitarian, transaction cost and the rational choice theories. It adopts the qualitative research methodology with the use of the doctrinal method. The author conducted a comprehensive analysis of Cameroon’s legal acts in the field of cybersecurity and e-commerce. A survey was carried out between January to April 2025 at Molyko in Buea where 250 sample responses were obtained. Judicial precedents and statistics of the Cameroon Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications were investigated.

Results: It was found that cybercrimes have caused loss of trust and confidence in e-commerce transactions within Cameroon and a declining rate at which people are willing to carry out e-commerce transactions in Cameroon. More than 60% of young persons between the ages of 16 to 35 years in some major Cameroonian cities are either involved in e-commerce related cybercrimes or suffered from them. It was also observed that there is an increase in the rate at which female persons are involved in e-commerce related cybercrimes. The main types of cybercrimes were identified: scamming, phishing, and bank card skimming.

Scientific novelty: it consists in a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the impact of cybercrime on e-commerce in the context of the developing African economy. For the first time, an empirical study of the scale of cybercrime in a specific region of Cameroon was conducted, including a quantitative assessment of youth involvement in illegal activities. The author has developed a theoretical model that combines the utilitarianism, transaction costs, and rational choice concepts to explain the motivation of cybercriminals. Specific socio-legal factors contributing to the growth of cybercrime in the context of the socio-political crisis were identified.

Practical significance: The study results are of great practical significance for improving the legal, technological, social and economic mechanisms for countering cybercrime in Cameroon. The proposed recommendations include reforming procedural legislation, expanding the powers of specialized agencies, introducing a system of home addresses and social security numbers, raising the minimum wage, and integrating courses on cybersecurity into educational programs. The data obtained can be used by government agencies, the judicial system, educational institutions and international organizations to develop effective strategies to combat cybercrime and develop a secure digital economy.