UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Government Strengthens Regulatory Framework to Address AI-Generated Deepfakes
Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the removal of unlawful content by intermediaries, comparing the position under the IT Rules, 2021 before and after the 2026 amendment:
1. Before the amendment, an intermediary was required to remove or disable access to unlawful content within thirty-six hours of receiving a court order or a communication from the appropriate Government; the amendment compresses this to three hours.
2. The reduced period runs from the receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or a reasoned intimation issued by the appropriate Government or its agency.
3. The amendment simultaneously did away with the separate timeline for furnishing information or assistance to authorised government agencies, subsuming it within the same three-hour limit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Before the amendment, an intermediary was required to remove or disable access to unlawful content within thirty-six hours of receiving a court order or a communication from the appropriate Government; the amendment compresses this to three hours.
- The reduced period runs from the receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or a reasoned intimation issued by the appropriate Government or its agency.
- The amendment simultaneously did away with the separate timeline for furnishing information or assistance to authorised government agencies, subsuming it within the same three-hour limit.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q2. Consider the following pairs relating to the legal architecture governing intermediaries in India:
1. Sahyog portal — operated by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs to send removal notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000
2. Grievance Appellate Committees — constituted under Rule 3A of the IT Rules, 2021, with appeals filed and decided through an online portal
3. Part III of the IT Rules, 2021, containing the Code of Ethics for publishers of news and curated audio-visual content — administered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
4. Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 — the provision that confers on intermediaries exemption from liability for third-party information hosted by them
Which of the above pairs is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Sahyog portal — operated by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs to send removal notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000
- Grievance Appellate Committees — constituted under Rule 3A of the IT Rules, 2021, with appeals filed and decided through an online portal
- Part III of the IT Rules, 2021, containing the Code of Ethics for publishers of news and curated audio-visual content — administered by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
- Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 — the provision that confers on intermediaries exemption from liability for third-party information hosted by them
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q3. With reference to the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 that the Government has cited as applicable to deepfake-related conduct, consider the following:
1. Section 66C — identity theft
2. Section 66D — cheating by personation by using a computer resource
3. Section 66E — violation of bodily privacy
4. Section 67B — publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form generally
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Section 66C — identity theft
- Section 66D — cheating by personation by using a computer resource
- Section 66E — violation of bodily privacy
- Section 67B — publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form generally
- A. 1, 2 and 4
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q4. Consider the following statements about significant social media intermediaries and safe harbour under the IT Rules, 2021:
1. An intermediary is treated as a significant social media intermediary once its registered users in India exceed the notified threshold of fifty lakh.
2. Every significant social media intermediary must appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person for round-the-clock coordination with law enforcement agencies, and a Resident Grievance Officer, each of whom must be a resident in India.
3. The obligation to enable identification of the first originator of information applies to all significant social media intermediaries without exception.
4. Safe harbour under Section 79 is a permanent statutory immunity that, once available to an entity recognised as an intermediary, cannot be withdrawn.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- An intermediary is treated as a significant social media intermediary once its registered users in India exceed the notified threshold of fifty lakh.
- Every significant social media intermediary must appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person for round-the-clock coordination with law enforcement agencies, and a Resident Grievance Officer, each of whom must be a resident in India.
- The obligation to enable identification of the first originator of information applies to all significant social media intermediaries without exception.
- Safe harbour under Section 79 is a permanent statutory immunity that, once available to an entity recognised as an intermediary, cannot be withdrawn.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1 and 2
- D. 3 and 4
Q5. Consider the following statements regarding the labelling of synthetically generated information under the amended IT Rules, 2021:
1. Where such information is displayed visually, the label or identifier is required to cover at least ten per cent of the surface area of the display.
2. Where such information is in audio form, the audible identifier is required to fall within the initial ten per cent of the duration of the audio.
3. An intermediary may offer users a setting to suppress or remove such a label where the user has separately declared the content to be synthetic at the time of upload.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Where such information is displayed visually, the label or identifier is required to cover at least ten per cent of the surface area of the display.
- Where such information is in audio form, the audible identifier is required to fall within the initial ten per cent of the duration of the audio.
- An intermediary may offer users a setting to suppress or remove such a label where the user has separately declared the content to be synthetic at the time of upload.
- A. 1 only
- B. 3 only
- C. 1 and 2 only
- D. 2 and 3 only
Q6. Consider the following in relation to the obligations cast on significant social media intermediaries in respect of synthetically generated information:
1. Requiring users, at the time of upload, to declare whether the information being uploaded is synthetically generated
2. Deploying reasonable and appropriate technical measures, including automated tools, to verify the correctness of such user declarations having regard to the nature, format and source of the information
3. Ensuring that information confirmed to be synthetically generated carries a prominent label and traceable metadata
4. Obtaining the prior written concurrence of the Grievance Appellate Committee before permitting any synthetically generated content to be published on the platform
Which of the above is/are NOT an obligation under the amended Rules?
- Requiring users, at the time of upload, to declare whether the information being uploaded is synthetically generated
- Deploying reasonable and appropriate technical measures, including automated tools, to verify the correctness of such user declarations having regard to the nature, format and source of the information
- Ensuring that information confirmed to be synthetically generated carries a prominent label and traceable metadata
- Obtaining the prior written concurrence of the Grievance Appellate Committee before permitting any synthetically generated content to be published on the platform
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 only
- D. 4 only
Q7. Consider the following statements about the sequence in which India's framework on synthetically generated information was put in place:
1. The draft amendment rules on synthetically generated information were placed in the public domain by the nodal ministry along with an Explanatory Note dated 22 October 2025, inviting public comments.
2. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 were brought into force with immediate effect on the date of their notification.
3. The amendment to Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, prescribing the rank of officers competent to issue takedown intimations, took effect in November 2025, that is, before the synthetically-generated-information amendments commenced.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The draft amendment rules on synthetically generated information were placed in the public domain by the nodal ministry along with an Explanatory Note dated 22 October 2025, inviting public comments.
- The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 were brought into force with immediate effect on the date of their notification.
- The amendment to Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021, prescribing the rank of officers competent to issue takedown intimations, took effect in November 2025, that is, before the synthetically-generated-information amendments commenced.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3