Yang Bo, Zhang Liwei
Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
Buddhism in cyberspace: status and challenges
Abstract: This article is devoted to the problem of the spread of Buddhism in cyberspace in Russia, to comprehend the virtual context “religion and the Internet”, which is characterized by a high level of representativeness, quality of visual and auditory information, and interactivity. The main objectives of the research are to collect, organize and analyze official Buddhist websites and accounts. The material of the study was the texts used on Buddhist sites and in Buddhist official accounts on a social network in Russia. The current situation of the spread of Buddhism in the Internet space is substantiated, several shortcomings and questions are noted, especially under the influence of the new coronavirus-caused pneumonia. The presented review of the results of research on Internet religion in the field of studying Russian Internet Buddhism made it possible to come to conclusions and put forward reasonable proposals for the healthy development of Buddhism in cyberspace, which is of great importance for the promotion of religious governance in cyberspace, namely, strengthening sectoral self-discipline and creating a comprehensive Internet religion management systems. A contradiction is found between the high requirements for the policy and technology of managing Internet religion and the limited possibilities of simple administrative oversight. The authors come to the conclusion that it is necessary to take full advantage of the benefits of public oversight, encourage communication and coordination between the Internet industry, new media, patriotic religious groups and all sectors of society, and create a co-management system for religious network dissemination.
Keywords: Buddhism, Russia, cyberspace, identity, virtual communities, language of self-identification, governance of religion.
Paper submitted: February 6, 2022.
For citation: Yang Bo, Zhang Liwei (2022). Buddhism in cyberspace: status and challenges. Russian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 83–96. DOI: 10.17238/issn1998-5320.2022.16.2.9.
