UPSC Prelims 2022 Q32: Web 3.0, Blockchain and Decentralisation
With reference to Web 3.0, consider the following statements:
1. Web 3.0 technology enables people to control their own data.
2. In Web 3.0 world, there can be blockchain based social networks.
3. Web 3.0 is operated by users collectively rather than a corporation.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Under Web 2.0, a few large platforms collect user data and store it on their own servers. Web 3.0 is the idea of a web built on blockchains, where users keep their own identity and data, usually in a crypto wallet. They decide which application can see that data, so no platform has to hold it for them. Giving data ownership back to users is the stated aim of Web 3.0. The question tests this aim, not a guarantee that today's Web3 actually delivers it.
- 2: correct — Blockchain is the base layer of Web 3.0. Any application, a social network included, can run as a decentralised app (dApp): its posts, profiles and rewards sit on a blockchain instead of a company server. Blockchain-based social platforms already exist, so the statement describes something that is possible. The words 'there can be' only claim possibility, which makes the statement hard to reject.
- 3: correct — In Web 3.0, no single company owns the servers. The network runs on nodes kept up by many independent participants. Decisions about a protocol can be taken through Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs), where people who hold tokens vote on changes. A US Congressional Research Service brief (April 2022) describes Web3 as a proposed decentralised web, built on blockchain, in which users and communities organise through DAOs.
How to eliminate
All three statements describe the one defining idea of Web 3.0: decentralisation on a blockchain. Statement 1 is the user-side effect (users own their data). Statement 2 is the technology-side effect (apps, social networks included, can run on blockchains). Statement 3 is the governance-side effect (users run the network, not one corporation). If you know that Web 3.0 means 'decentralised, blockchain-based web', all three follow, and you cannot keep one while dropping another. Statement 2 says only 'there can be', a claim of possibility that is very hard to call false. None of the statements uses an absolute word like 'only', 'always' or 'necessarily'. UPSC usually tests the stated vision of a new technology, not its present limits. Fact to remember: Web 1.0 = read, Web 2.0 = read + write on platforms run by companies, Web 3.0 = read + write + own, through blockchain.
Know more
The three generations of the web
| Feature | Web 1.0 (c. 1990–2004) | Web 2.0 (c. 2004 onwards) | Web 3.0 (proposed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| User role | Read | Read + write | Read + write + own |
| Content | Static pages | User-generated, on platforms | User-owned, on dApps |
| Data held by | Site owners | Big platforms (central servers) | Users (wallets, blockchain) |
| Control | Webmasters | Corporations | Token holders, DAOs |
| Money layer | None | Ads, card payments | Cryptocurrencies, tokens, NFTs |
Building blocks of Web 3.0
- Blockchain / distributed ledger: a shared record copied across many nodes. It is hard to alter and needs no central authority.
- Smart contracts: code on a blockchain that runs by itself when set conditions are met.
- dApps: applications whose back end runs on a blockchain, not on a company server.
- Tokens and NFTs: digital assets that carry value, voting rights or ownership.
- DAOs: organisations run by rules in smart contracts. Members vote with tokens.
- Self-sovereign identity: you log in with your own wallet, not an account a platform controls.
Origin and debate. Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood coined 'Web3' in 2014. The term has no standard definition. Critics, including web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, point out that much of today's Web3 still runs on centralised services, and that it could hand power to a new set of companies. Scalability is also unproven.
Do not confuse this with the Semantic Web. Berners-Lee's 'Semantic Web', a machine-readable web of linked data, is sometimes also called Web 3.0. UPSC's statements here clearly mean the blockchain-based, decentralised version.
India link. In December 2021, MeitY released a National Strategy on Blockchain. It led to the National Blockchain Framework and the Vishvasya Blockchain Technology Stack (launched September 2024), which offers blockchain-as-a-service for e-governance.
In the news
Web3, NFTs and cryptocurrencies were heavily in the news through 2021 and early 2022. In India, MeitY released its National Strategy on Blockchain in December 2021. The Union Budget 2022-23 (February 2022) brought in a 30% tax on income from virtual digital assets.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Blockchain: Each statement rests on blockchain's decentralised, tamper-resistant ledger, which removes the need for a central company to hold data or run the network.