YOUTH DELINQUENCY PREVENTION IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT IN UZBEKISTAN (2000–2025): A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
Keywords:
youth delinquency, digital environment, cybercrime, cyberbullying, prevention, digital literacy, Uzbekistan, historical periodization.Abstract
The article examines the influence of the digital environment on youth delinquency prevention in Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2025 through a historical and institutional lens. It periodizes the transition from early informatization legislation to juvenile prevention, youth policy, the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy and cybersecurity regulation. The evidence base includes national legal acts, official statistics, UNICEF and ITU reports, and peer-reviewed studies on cyberbullying and online behaviour. The findings indicate that digitalization has created both preventive opportunities and new risks. Online platforms can support education, legal awareness and early reporting, while also facilitating cyberbullying, fraud, harmful contacts and privacy violations. Because publicly available national statistics do not provide a continuous age-disaggregated series on cyber-offending, aggregate cybercrime figures are treated only as contextual evidence rather than a direct measure of youth delinquency. The study argues for a rights-based model of digital prevention and a disaggregated data system that distinguishes age, gender, region, victimization and offending.
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