On March 5 of this year, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy hosted a meeting with specialists from the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan on the topics "Politics in the Religious Sphere in Uzbekistan" and "Manipulation of Mass Consciousness."

Associate Professor of the Academy Nuriddin Kalkanov and Doctor of Psychology of the Department of Psychology of Religion Mirmukhsin Akramov took part in it with reports.

N. Kalkonov separately dwelled on the approval of the Concept of State Policy in the Field of Ensuring the Freedom of Conscience of Citizens and the Religious Sphere, its goals, objectives, principles and priority areas. At the same time, he told the students in detail that the Concept was developed on the basis of the rich national and historical experience of the development of our statehood and universal values. It is aimed at realizing public interests in multi-ethnic and multi-religious Uzbekistan, ensuring the necessary stable environment for peaceful coexistence and consistent development on the basis of democracy, secularism, freedom, equality, social justice and solidarity.

In the lecture of psychologist M. Akramov on the topic "Manipulation of mass consciousness" the concepts of the meaning of the word manipulation, its application in psychology and the causes of manipulation were revealed. By controlling consciousness, it is possible to induce a person to any action. According to psychologists and sociologists, manipulation is one of the types of influence on human consciousness, which is used to achieve a one-sided benefit by indirectly inducing a person to certain actions.  At present, the information system has covered the whole world. The Internet, mobile communications, radio and television have become widespread on a global scale. Ties between peoples, regions and continents have accelerated. Both the achievements and the problems of mankind have acquired a global character. Unfortunately, the establishment of cultural hegemony and the involvement of other territories in the sphere of its influence is becoming a widespread technology for controlling human consciousness.

In the context of globalization and intense competition in the information space, the formation of ideological immunity, the improvement of media literacy and the culture of using the Internet among the younger generation, the development of the national segment, and the improvement of the theoretical foundations of technologies for protecting young people from information and psychological attacks are of practical importance. It is obvious that young people are the direct target of modern information attacks. Therefore, in order to protect adolescents and young people from the influence of contradictory ideas that poison their consciousness, and not to get into the network of such information, it remains relevant to form the skills of objective assessment of information, "filtering" positive and negative messages in the information system - that is, the ability to perceive useful information and not succumb to the influence of harmful information.

At the end of the event, the experts answered all the questions asked by the participants.