Zhuk, Alesia2024-01-082024-01-082023Zhuk A. Virtual sovereignty: examining the legal status of micronations in cyberspace through the case of the republic of Errant Menda Lerenda. Digit Soc. 2023;2:45. DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00067-x2731-4650http://hdl.handle.net/10230/58628This paper examines the legal status of micronations claiming virtual sovereignty in cyberspace, using the case of the Republic of Errant Menda Lerenda (REML) as an example. The REML is a micronation that claims to have virtual sovereignty over a network of individuals who share its values and beliefs. Through an in-depth analysis of existing literature and sources, this paper explores the legal implications of virtual sovereignty and the challenges that micronations face in establishing legitimacy in the international community. The paper concludes that while the lack of recognition of virtual states by the international community limits their ability to engage in formal relations with other states, virtual sovereignty raises important questions about the concept of statehood in the digital age. This paper suggests that further research is needed to explore the legal and practical implications of virtual sovereignty and to develop new frameworks for determining the legitimacy of virtual states.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2023 This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00067-xVirtual sovereigntyMicronationsCyberlawInternational lawStatehoodOnline communitiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess