UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Meta apologises for ‘errors in operation’

Q1. The requirement that an intermediary must observe due diligence while discharging its duties, and observe such other guidelines as the Central Government may prescribe, in order to retain its exemption from liability for third-party information, is laid down in which one of the following provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000?

  • A. Sub-section (1) of Section 79, read with the Explanation appended to that Section
  • B. Clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 79, on non-interference with transmission
  • C. Clause (c) of sub-section (2) of Section 79, under which the Intermediary Guidelines Rules are framed
  • D. Clause (b) of sub-section (3) of Section 79, on actual knowledge and expeditious removal

Q2. The present statutory exemption of intermediaries from liability for third-party information was introduced by an amendment to the Information Technology Act. How many years after the enactment of the parent Act was this amendment made?

  • A. Three years after the enactment of the parent Act
  • B. Eight years after the enactment of the parent Act
  • C. Eleven years after the enactment of the parent Act
  • D. Twenty-one years after the enactment of the parent Act

Q3. How many Union Ministries fall within the purview of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology?

  • A. One Ministry, which is further divided into two administrative Departments
  • B. Two Ministries, one of which is further divided into two Departments
  • C. Three Ministries, one of which is further divided into two Departments
  • D. Four Ministries, none of which is divided into separate Departments

Q4. Which one of the following statements correctly describes the mandate of a Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee, of which the Committee on Communications and Information Technology is one?

  • A. It considers the Demands for Grants of the allotted Ministries and reports on them, examines Bills referred to it by the Speaker or Chairman, and considers their annual reports and long-term policy documents, but not their day-to-day administration
  • B. It considers the Demands for Grants of the allotted Ministries and may vote to reduce or reject them, examines all Bills before their introduction in either House, and supervises the day-to-day administration of those Ministries
  • C. It scrutinises the appropriation and finance accounts of the allotted Ministries after expenditure has been incurred, and reports on cases of irregular or wasteful spending disclosed by audit
  • D. It examines whether the powers to make rules and regulations delegated by Parliament to the allotted Ministries have been properly exercised within the scope of the parent statute

Q5. Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for how long must an intermediary preserve the information it has removed or disabled access to, along with the associated records?

  • A. Thirty days from the date of removal or disabling of access
  • B. Sixty days from the date of removal or disabling of access
  • C. Ninety days from the date of removal or disabling of access
  • D. One hundred and eighty days from the date of removal or disabling of access

Q6. In August 2026, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology publicly set a deadline for an apology from Meta's chief executive over the temporary removal of the Prime Minister's Facebook post, failing which the withdrawal of the platform's intermediary immunity was threatened. What was the length of that deadline?

  • A. Three days
  • B. Seven days
  • C. Fifteen days
  • D. Thirty days

Q7. In the Hyderabad cyber-fraud case cited by the Parliamentary Standing Committee while seeking action against Google India in 2026, what was the amount that complainants stated they had lost by investing through fraudulent applications?

  • A. More than ₹48 lakh
  • B. More than ₹216 crore
  • C. More than ₹936 crore
  • D. More than ₹2,500 crore

Q8. If the demand that an application-distribution platform's safe harbour be 'withdrawn' were given effect, what would be the immediate legal consequence for that platform?

  • A. It would cease to be entitled to the statutory exemption for third-party information and would become answerable for such content under the Information Technology Act and other laws, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
  • B. It would be required to store all data relating to Indian users exclusively on servers located within the territory of India, under conditions specified by the Central Government
  • C. It would be barred from operating within India until it registered afresh as a significant social media intermediary and appointed the officers prescribed for that category
  • D. It would have to obtain prior clearance from the appropriate Government before hosting or distributing any application or content originating from a third party in India

Q9. Under the amendments notified to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 in February 2026, which one of the following is the defining test for information to qualify as 'synthetically generated information'?

  • A. It is created, generated, modified or altered using a computer resource in a manner that makes it reasonably appear to be authentic or true
  • B. It is produced by an automated system without any human involvement at any stage, whether or not it resembles real persons, events or objects
  • C. It is converted by a machine from one language, format or medium into another, so that the original expression is reproduced in an altered form
  • D. It is composed by combining data drawn from two or more separate databases so as to yield a new statistical or aggregated representation