Digital citizenship core elements – UGC NET Question

Statements A, B, D and E together describe widely accepted components of digital citizenship, while C and F are false. Digital citizenship emphasises ethical use of ICT, awareness of intellectual property, respect for privacy and critical thinking about online content. Cyberbullying is a major digital citizenship concern, so calling it unrelated is incorrect. Limiting digital citizenship only to ICT professionals ignores the fact that all users, including students, need these competencies. Therefore the combination that includes A, B, D and E and excludes C and F is correct.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it includes all the statements that align with accepted definitions of digital citizenship. It recognises responsible use, intellectual property, privacy and critical evaluation as core ideas. Importantly, it excludes C and F, which either minimise cyberbullying or wrongly restrict digital citizenship to professionals, so this option matches the full set of correct statements.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it adds C to otherwise true statements. Including C treats cyberbullying as unrelated to digital citizenship, which contradicts the focus on respectful online behaviour and safety. The mixture of three true statements with one false statement makes the combination invalid.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it includes F and omits A. While B, D and E are true, F wrongly claims that students are outside the scope of digital citizenship. Leaving out A also removes the explicit reference to responsible and ethical ICT use, so this set cannot be accepted.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it adds F to A, B, D and E. Including F would mean accepting that digital citizenship is not relevant to students, which is inconsistent with school and university programmes that explicitly teach these skills. As a result, this combination is not correct.