Siddaramaiah government gearing up to fight fake news, hate speech with separate laws

Bengaluru: The Congress government is preparing to enact separate laws to combat fake news and hate speech while also introducing specific penal provisions to deter people from disrupting order.

The government has come up with a basic draft of the Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill and the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention And Control) Bill, according to a source with direct knowledge of this, as it looks to institutionalise mechanisms to fight the twin hazards. 

The law department has sent the drafts to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s office, DH has learnt. 

The Siddaramaiah administration has already set up the Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU), a fact-checking exercise that ran for a 90-day trial through its website satya.karnataka.gov.in during the Lok Sabha polls last year. The IDTU combed 64,000 articles per day on the internet, resulting in at least 18 FIRs.

Since coming to power in 2023, the Congress government has booked 259 ‘fake news’ cases. Of them, 75 cases are under investigation; six cases have seen punishment.

In October last year, the government formed a high-level committee chaired by Home Minister G Parameshwara to institutionalise the fact-check mechanism. IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge is co-chairing the committee. 

Priyank insisted that curbing fake news and misinformation was imperative. He even pointed to warnings by former Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the perils of misinformation.

“We’re trying to see how misinformation, mal-information, disinformation and fake news can be curbed. It’s not just law-and-order, but democracy itself that’s at stake,” the minister told DH, recalling how misinformation ruled the roost in the 2017 Paresh Mesta case.

The BJP and the right-wing had alleged that Mesta had been killed by communal forces. Five years later, the CBI concluded that he had drowned.  

“Misinformation has single-handedly spoiled three generations of the youth,” Priyank rued. “They’re in the make-believe world of WhatsApp University. If misinformation wasn’t a threat, why did the Union government set up the Sahyog portal?” he said. 

While Section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita carries a 3-year jail term for fake news, the government’s plan to bring a state-level law has raised eyebrows. Politically, it is seen as the Congress’ plan to go after the right-wing ecosystem comprising the BJP and the Sangh Parivar.

“The government’s action to curb misinformation and fake news is commendable,” Manjunatha K, a research scholar doing his PhD on misinformation at Bangalore University said.

“However, it must be ensured that this legislation doesn’t infringe upon freedom of speech, including that of the press. Society needs to be very vigilant to prevent those in power from misusing the law,” he added.

Highlights - Battling twin perils
Draft of Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill and Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention And Control) Bill is ready
Law department has sent the drafts to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s office
The govt has already set up the Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU)