Possibilities and threats caused by the development of information society

Abstract

The basic idea of the article is that in the era of information society development not only the functions of the state in information sphere change, but also there are new opportunities and threats. To understand how information functions of the state change, the concept and features of an information society are considered, positive and negative consequences of information society are defined. As a result of this consideration the conclusion on new opportunities and threats for the state and the government is made. "Egovernment" is considered as a new opportunity, which allows essentially raising the quality of state services, and as a new threat – distribution of virtual communities capable under certain conditions to harm to the state and society.