Ethics · 4 Aug 2026

doxxing IT Act Section 72A

Arrange the following steps in the sequence in which a doxxing victim in India, as described in the article, would typically have to pursue recourse, from the earliest available remedy to the step requiring the longest-term legislative fix:

  1. Victim invokes BNS provisions on stalking, criminal intimidation or insulting modesty, since no provision names "doxxing" specifically
  2. A dedicated anti-doxxing law, with carve-outs for journalism and whistleblowing, is enacted following full legislative deliberation
  3. Victim seeks expedited platform-level takedown of the offending content under the existing IT Rules (2022-amended) grievance mechanism
  4. Victim explores IT Act Section 72A for unauthorised disclosure of personal data, a provision rarely invoked for this specific harm

Select the correct order:

A3, 1, 4, 2
B1, 3, 4, 2
C3, 4, 1, 2
D4, 1, 3, 2

Tests the ability to trace and sequence the article's own layered reasoning about interim versus structural remedies, rather than simple recall of which laws exist.

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About this question

Why in news

Women who protested at Jantar Mantar had their personal details published online and faced coordinated harassment, exposing that Indian law has no dedicated offence of doxxing.

Why for UPSC

This tests whether aspirants can trace the article's specific argument about interim versus long-term remedies, rather than simply recalling that multiple laws are relevant - a genuinely analytical sequencing task grounded in the source's own reasoning.

Prelims summary

For doxxing victims in India: expedited IT Rules-based platform takedown is the fastest interim remedy; BNS stalking/intimidation/modesty provisions and the rarely-invoked IT Act Section 72A serve as makeshift legal recourse; a dedicated anti-doxxing law with journalist/whistleblower carve-outs is the proposed long-term legislative fix.

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