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RAS question

India's IT Act 2000 was primarily enacted to:

Correct answer: (D) Provide legal recognition for electronic transactions and cybercrime framework.

India's Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted primarily to give legal recognition to electronic transactions and to create a legal framework for cyber governance and cyber offences.

  1. (A)

    Ban internet use

  2. (B)

    Create social media rules only

  3. (C)

    Regulate telecom only

  4. (D)

    Provide legal recognition for electronic transactions and cybercrime framework

Explanation

The Information Technology Act, 2000 is not an internet-ban law or a telecom-only statute. Its official text states that it provides legal recognition for transactions carried out through electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly called electronic commerce, as alternatives to paper-based methods. The Act legally recognises electronic records and electronic signatures, including their use in government processes, and supplies the wider cyber-governance framework. It also includes key cyber provisions: identity theft and cyber terrorism as offences, Section 69 on interception or monitoring or decryption, and Section 79 on intermediary liability. Hence the Act's primary purpose is the legal validity of electronic transactions plus a cybercrime and cyber-governance framework.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) The Act does not ban internet use; the official text instead recognises electronic communication and electronic-commerce transactions as legally valid alternatives to paper-based methods.
  • (B) It is not confined to social media rules, because the Act covers electronic records, electronic signatures, government use of electronic records, cyber offences, interception powers, and intermediary liability.
  • (C) It is not a telecom-only law, since its stated focus is legal recognition for electronic data and electronic-commerce transactions, along with cyber-governance provisions.

Concept

This tests the Science and Technology syllabus area on cyber law, digital governance, and e-commerce regulation. It recurs in RAS because the IT Act is the base statute for India's electronic records, digital signatures, cyber offences, and intermediary-liability framework.

Source

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