ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL REGULATION OF ONLINE MEDIA ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN UKRAINE UNDER DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the administrative and legal regulation of the economic activity of online media in Ukraine under conditions of digital transformation and European integration. The relevance of the topic is determined by the rapid development of the digital media market, the growing role of online media as actors within the digital economy, the expansion of platform-based content distribution models, the increasing use of artificial intelligence technologies, and the strengthening dependence of media outlets on the algorithmic infrastructure of global digital platforms. Of particular importance is the formation of an effective model of administrative and legal regulation capable of ensuring a balance between freedom of expression, the economic sustainability of the media sector, transparency of digital advertising, protection of personal data, and the need to safeguard state information security under martial law. The purpose of the study is to determine the legal nature of online media as subjects of economic activity, to analyse the administrative and legal mechanisms governing their functioning within the digital environment, to examine the influence of the platform economy, digital advertising, personalization, and artificial intelligence technologies on contemporary online media business models, as well as to substantiate promising directions for the modernization of Ukrainian legislation in accordance with European digital standards. The study establishes that contemporary online media in Ukraine operate as full-fledged participants in the digital economy, whose economic activity is based on a combination of advertising, subscription, donation-based, platform, and service monetization models. It is demonstrated that the adoption of the Law of Ukraine On Media constituted an important stage in the institutionalization of online media and in the formation of a new model of their administrative and legal regulation based on the combination of voluntary registration, transparency mechanisms, procedural oversight, and differentiated state supervision. The article substantiates that the economic sustainability of online media increasingly depends on platform algorithms, digital advertising, content personalization, and the use of user data, which requires administrative and legal regulation to take into account not only the content-related dimension of media activity, but also the platform-economic nature of the contemporary digital media environment. It is established that a prospective model of online media regulation should combine the principles of media freedom, due administrative procedure, transparency of algorithmic practices, protection of personal data, and fair competition within the digital environment. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive analysis of the administrative and legal regulation of the economic activity of online media as a component of the digital economy, as well as in identifying the impact of platform dependency, digital advertising, personalization, and artificial intelligence on the transformation of contemporary media law. The practical significance of the results consists in the possibility of their application in the process of improving Ukrainian media legislation, developing co-regulatory mechanisms for the digital environment, harmonizing national legislation with the Digital Services Act, the European Media Freedom Act, and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, as well as in shaping a modern service-oriented model of public administration in the field of digital media.