UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Why is NCPCR investigating Meta, Instagram?

Q1. With reference to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), consider the following: 1. It was constituted under Section 3 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 and functions under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. 2. Its mandate includes monitoring the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Right to Education Act, 2009. 3. Its Chairperson is a deemed Member of the National Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. 4. It is a constitutional body whose Chairperson and Members are appointed by the President under Article 338B of the Constitution. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. It was constituted under Section 3 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 and functions under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  2. Its mandate includes monitoring the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Right to Education Act, 2009.
  3. Its Chairperson is a deemed Member of the National Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
  4. It is a constitutional body whose Chairperson and Members are appointed by the President under Article 338B of the Constitution.
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 only
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only

Q2. Which one of the following offences attracts the highest maximum punishment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, as amended in 2019?

  • A. Storage of pornographic material involving a child for a commercial purpose, on a second conviction
  • B. Aggravated penetrative sexual assault, where the assault results in the death of the child
  • C. Use of a child for pornographic purposes, unaccompanied by any sexual assault on that child
  • D. Storage of such material for the purpose of transmitting, displaying or distributing it

Q3. The expression 'child pornography', inserted into the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act by the 2019 amendment, is defined to mean which one of the following?

  • A. Only photographs and video recordings in which an identifiable real child was actually filmed, whether or not later edited or circulated
  • B. Written, audio or visual descriptions of sexual acts involving a person below eighteen years of age, whether real or imaginary
  • C. Any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child, including a computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child or an image adapted to appear to depict a child
  • D. Any obscene material transmitted to a person below eighteen years of age through an electronic device, irrespective of who is depicted in it

Q4. The exemption of an intermediary from liability for third-party information that it hosts or transmits — an exemption that is forfeited if the due diligence prescribed by the IT Rules, 2021 is not observed — is conferred by which one of the following provisions?

  • A. Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000
  • B. Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000
  • C. Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000
  • D. Rule 7 of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

Q5. Under the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, a platform is classified as a 'significant social media intermediary' on the basis of which one of the following?

  • A. Its number of registered users in India exceeding a threshold notified by the Central Government
  • B. Its annual advertising revenue earned in India exceeding a threshold notified by the Central Government
  • C. Its designation as such by the Grievance Appellate Committee following repeated non-compliance with takedown orders
  • D. Its services being used to transmit user content in more than half of the districts of the country

Q6. The 2026 scrutiny of Meta by Indian regulators over advertisements linked to child sexual exploitation material was set off, in the first instance, by which one of the following?

  • A. A report of the Tech Transparency Project, a United States-based non-profit, on such advertisements on Facebook and Instagram
  • B. A compliance audit of significant social media intermediaries conducted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
  • C. A BBC investigation that used a test Instagram account and traced paid advertisements redirecting users to Telegram channels
  • D. Crime statistics on cyber offences against children published by the National Crime Records Bureau for the latest reporting year

Q7. The National Human Rights Commission, which in 2026 directed a police examination of compliance with reporting duties in the Instagram advertisements case, functions under the administrative control of which one of the following Union ministries?

  • A. Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • B. Ministry of Home Affairs
  • C. Ministry of Law and Justice
  • D. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

Q8. In the scheme of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, the expression 'Children's Court' denotes which one of the following?

  • A. A bench of the Juvenile Justice Board constituted to decide custody and guardianship disputes between parents of a minor
  • B. A tribunal set up at the district level to adjudicate complaints of denial of admission under the Right to Education Act, 2009
  • C. A forum constituted by the High Court to hear appeals against orders passed by Child Welfare Committees of the districts
  • D. A court specified by the State Government for the speedy trial of offences against children or of violation of child rights

Q9. INTERPOL's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database, which links victims, abusers and locations through image and video comparison, is shared by how many countries?

  • A. More than 75
  • B. About 27
  • C. About 120
  • D. About 195

Q10. MeitY's notices to social media platforms on child sexual abuse material invoke Rule 4(4) of the IT Rules, 2021. This rule requires a significant social media intermediary to do which one of the following?

  • A. Publish a periodic compliance report setting out complaints received and the action taken on each of them
  • B. Enable the identification of the first originator of a message on an order of a court or the competent authority
  • C. Endeavour to deploy technology-based measures to proactively identify child sexual abuse material on its service
  • D. Appoint a grievance officer resident in India who acknowledges every user complaint within twenty-four hours