In the Russian legal literature, the issue of the essence and means of legal support for digital sovereignty as one of the central concepts and categories of the modern state and law is not sufficiently elaborated. At the same time, the scientific development and practical testing of the mechanism of its application could increase the guarantees of ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation, law and order in the digital space (reality). Legal reforms in all spheres of public life, dictated by the urgent needs of the time and caused by the unprecedented growth and capabilities of modern technologies, do not always rely on forward-looking and risk-oriented approaches to the development of legislation. The current large-scale digitalization is qualitatively transforming the content of the main institutions of the state and law. New challenges are emerging to ensure lawful behavior and national interests in the digital space.

The article shows that the transformation of legal relations between a person and the state is taking place on the Internet, and legal entities operate in a qualitatively different (virtual) space, and the model of regulating its activities is radically changing. In the absence of adequate legal regulation, deformations occur in the internal relations of legal entities, many restrictions and prohibitions of social regulators (primarily morality and law) do not apply on the Internet. Together, these factors form the need for legal modeling and visualization of digital sovereignty and the real mechanism of its operation and legal support. The concept of digital sovereignty of the state is revealed through the category of “national segment of the Internet” with proposals for the development of Russian legislation and law enforcement practice.