Bill to tackle fake news to be tabled soon: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge at NLSIU-Ikigai Law event

The Karnataka Minister for Information Technology (IT), BioTechnology, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Priyank Kharge, recently expressed hope that a Bill to tackle fake news and platforms that amplify such misinformation will be tabled in the upcoming Winter session of the Karnataka Assembly in December.Speaking as the Chief Guest at the Policy Dialogue - Truth, Trust and Technology organised by Ikigai Law and the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Kharge reiterated how disinformation is extremely dangerous owing to its intentional and egregiously corrosive nature.“This threat is magnified by technology, especially now, with the advent of accessible and affordable AI tools. Anyone can now create deepfake videos, clone voices, and fabricate documents that appear entirely authentic,” Kharge said.He added that the proposed Bill against disinformation is aimed at reining in fake news by naming and shaming those who spread falsehoods. “A single click can spark chaos. Hence, we want to bring in laws to rein in misinformation, disinformation, malinformation and fake news. We want to also regulate the platforms that amplify such disinformation, thereby violating their own public policies. By allowing such information to be amplified on their platform, they are also indirectly responsible. Yes, it is not easy for platforms to monitor everything, but all we seek is to bring these platforms and the laws of the land under one umbrella," he said. He clarified that the State has no intention of curbing free speech, creativity, satire and opinions..The November 7 event at which he spoke involved a double-panel dialogue to explore how India can regulate online speech without stifling free expression. The first panel on the theme ‘Regulating Speech in Karnataka: A Constitutional Tug of War’ examined the constitutional boundaries of state-level regulation of speech, the challenges of addressing harmful content online and the interplay between state and national laws..Manu Kulkarni, Partner at Poovayya & Co, observed,“First, information that is harmful and that has resulted in chaos is never truly prosecuted, is never truly brought to the book. Then, having new laws, making new institutions is not going to solve the problem. Second, the biggest problem with the present approach, as I see it, is that the elephant in the room is that the government wants to be the arbiter of truth. That's a little difficult to digest. The Central government tried to do it. They set up what is called a fact-check unit. The Bombay High Court struck it down."He added, “When there are competing values, then the buck can only stop at the kind of misinformation and disinformation that creates actual harm. Those people who create actual harm must be brought to book. Any bigger regulation than that will, I think, strike at the root of democracy.".Vice Chairman of NLSIU Sudhir Krishnaswamy reiterated the need to move away from a criminal-law-focused legislation and introduce liability at both the individual and platform level.Alok Kumar Prasanna, Co-Founder, Vidhi Center for Legal Policy, noted that a big problem arises when governments try to define what the "truth" is. The solution lies in critical thinking, he observed. “Criminal action in India starts with an arrest and ends with bail. There’s no focus on convictions. There are no serious consequences because institutions don’t exist .... The real problem, at the heart of it, is that we have an education system problem. We are not taught to think critically. We are taught to passively receive information. It's not just the education system - society as well. The hard solution is, how do you get people to think critically?” he remarked..The second panel delved into the theme of 'Tackling Misinformation in Practice: Risks, Responsibilities, and Alternatives', and explored whether state-level authorities can realistically implement and enforce legislation to regulate misinformation and hate speech on online platforms, and the impact it could have.Dhanya Rajendran, Co-Founder of The News Minute, observed that even laws meant to tackle disinformation are vulnerable to misuse by those in power. “If Karnataka tries to enact a bill, the problem is that it inherently sounds good. However, look at what Karnataka did after the Congress government came to power. They’ve booked three national anchors. What happened to those cases? One was quashed. One is still going on. And the other one also got a scale. So these are just knee-jerk reactions and if the new law is passed, then when an anchor says something against the government, they can immediately file a case saying the journalist is promoting enmity,” she pointed out. .Drawing examples from the EU and Australia, Siddharth Narrain, Associate Professor at NLSIU, noted that Karnataka is trying to bring in a new law in a space where no legal basis exists. “They (government) are trying to look at a specific problem of disinformation. The question is, how much of criminalising disinformation is overreach and what do we find about that? Who decides the question of what constitutes disinformation?” he asked..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.