IPMAT Indore 2025 · Verbal Ability · Question 32

IPMAT Indore 2025 previous year question on RC Tone and Attitude, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

RC Tone and AttitudeReading Comprehension - Question TypesMultiple choiceMedium

RC passage 1: Passage — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 6 questions →

Meta is recalibrating content on its social media platforms as the political tide has turned in Washington, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing last week that his company plans to fire its US fact-checkers. Fact-checking evolved in response to allegations of misinformation and is being watered down in response to accusations of censorship. Social media does not have solutions to either. Community review — introduced by Elon Musk at X and planned by Zuckerberg for Facebook and Instagram — is not a significant improvement over fact-checking. Having Washington lean on foreign governments over content moderation does not benefit free speech. Yet, that is the nature of the social media beast, designed to amplify bias.

Information and misinformation continue to jostle on social media at the mercy of user discretion. Social media now has enough control over all other forms of media to broaden its reach. It is the connective tissue for mass consumption of entertainment, and alternative platforms are reworking their engagement with social media. Technologies are shaping up to drive this advantage further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience. Meta's algorithm will now play up politics because it is the flavour of the season.

The Achilles' Heel of social media is informed choice which could turn against misinformation. Its move away from content moderation is driven by the need to be more inclusive, yet unfiltered content can push users away from social media towards legacy forms that have better moderation systems in place. Lawmakers across the world are unlikely to give social media a free run, even if Donald Trump is working on their case. Protections have already been put in place across jurisdictions over misinformation. These may be difficult to dismantle, even if the Republicans pull US-owned social media companies further to the right. Media consumption is, in essence, evidence-based judgement that mediums must adapt to. Content moderation, not free speech, is the adaptation mechanism. Musk and Zuckerberg are not exempt.

The writer's conclusion is that information available on social media is linked to

A
the policies of the governments in power.
B
the need for deregulation.
C
the global legal systems' support of free speech.
D
the individual's right to free speech.

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

Line in the passage

Para 1 opening read with para 3 — Meta recalibrates content as the political tide turns in Washington; lawmakers across jurisdictions have already put misinformation protections in place.

How to reach it, step by step

Step 1. The stem says 'conclusion', so you need the thread that runs through the whole piece, not one stray line.

Step 2. Trace the thread. Opening: Meta changes its content policy because the political tide in Washington has turned. Middle: Meta's algorithm will now foreground politics because politics is the flavour of the season. Close: lawmakers across the world will not give social media a free run, and existing legal protections will be hard to dismantle.

Step 3. All three points are the same claim at different stages — what appears on social media rises and falls with who is in power and what they legislate.

Step 4. That is option (a). The link is to government policy, not to any principle.

Why the other three fall

(b) Deregulation is what Meta wants, not what the writer concludes is needed. The writer ends by backing content moderation.

(d) The writer explicitly separates the two in the last two lines: the adaptation mechanism is content moderation, not free speech.

Teaching point: Conclusion questions reward the first and last paragraphs. Make students read the opening sentence and the closing two sentences together before touching the options.

IPMAT Indore 2025 · Verbal Ability · Question 32

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