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The initial draft had proposed the creation of a ‘Fake News on Social Media Regulatory Authority’ and included severe penal provisions but this was seen as overreaching
As it stands revised titled the Karnataka Misinformation Regulation Bill, 2025, it is expected to be tabled during the monsoon session of the state assembly. (Image: PTI/File)
The Karnataka government is set to revise its proposed Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill, 2025, after an earlier draft triggered widespread criticism and raised questions over legal tenability.
The words “fake news” have been removed from the new version and, as it stands revised titled the Karnataka Misinformation Regulation Bill, 2025, it is expected to be tabled during the monsoon session of the state assembly.
According to sources, the scrutiny committee headed by state law minister HK Patil has cleared the draft, which is likely to be placed before the cabinet. News18 accessed a copy of the draft bill, which comes at a time when governments across India are stepping up digital regulation.
WHAT DOES THE DRAFT BILL SAY?
In the draft bill that will be submitted in the upcoming monsoon session beginning August 19, the definition of misinformation has been retained: “knowingly or recklessly making a false or inaccurate statement of fact, whether wholly or in part, in the context in which it appears, excluding opinion, satire, religious or philosophical sermons, and parody – as long as a reasonable person would not interpret the content as factual”.
The bill furthers the government’s intent: “The State Government shall undertake efforts to set up infrastructure to curb the spread of misinformation in Karnataka, including efforts to curb the spread of misinformation relating to policies, schemes, guidelines and initiatives of the Government of Karnataka or information that has a tendency to disrupt public order or incite persons to commit cognizable offences.”
The bill defines “communication” as dissemination of information to 10 or more persons in Karnataka, through any medium — including bots, computer resources, television, or in-person communication. This applies to content originating both inside and outside Karnataka, as long as it reaches people within the state.
The offence of misinformation is defined as follows: “no person, whether inside or outside Karnataka, shall communicate or abet the communication of misinformation to persons in Karnataka if such communication disrupts public tranquillity, affects the conduct of free and fair elections in any part of the state, or incites others to commit an offence. Anyone found guilty can be punished with imprisonment ranging from three months to five years and a fine. Abetment carries a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.”
SPECIAL COURTS TO DIRECT MEDIA HOUSES
The draft bill states that special courts may be established to issue directions to media houses to correct or take down content. Non-compliance can lead to up to two years’ imprisonment and a daily fine of Rs 25,000.
“For the purpose of providing for speedy trial of offences under this Act, the State Government shall, with concurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish Special Court comprising a Sessions Judge,” the draft bill states.
CONTROVERSIAL ‘SANATAN’ CLAUSE TO BE DROPPED?
The initial draft had proposed the creation of a ‘Fake News on Social Media Regulatory Authority’ to “ensure complete ban” on fake news and included penal provisions of up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh. But, this came under scrutiny as it was seen as overreaching.
“The first ‘so-called draft’ seen in the public domain was fake. We have been working on a comprehensive one that will control misinformation and also ensure that people get what is ‘real news’,” a source in the IT/BT ministry said.
The bill had come under fire from several quarters after the draft included terms flagged as excessive, especially a clause that proposed a seven-year jail term for the “publication of content amounting to disrespect of Sanatan symbols and beliefs on social media platforms”. This clause was among the most controversial and is likely to be dropped or reworded, sources said.
The revised version is presently under scrutiny of the IT BT, home, and law departments. The first two are reviewing the penal clauses, which were earlier flagged for their severity. Officials involved in the review said several portions of the earlier draft had been directly lifted from the Union government’s 2019 Fake News (Prohibition) Bill.
“It mentions ministers like information and broadcasting, which is not even a state subject. Section 15, which deals with company offences, was also reportedly taken verbatim from Section 7 of the Union bill. All of this, officials said, has now been reviewed and reworked in the revised version. Even the Rs 10 lakh penalty was copied from the Centre’s bill, all of it had to be reviewed and worked upon,” a senior official told News18.
In April last year, the ministry of corporate affairs introduced the draft Digital Competition Act to tackle anti-competitive behaviour by tech giants such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and X. In a similar development, X Corp (formerly Twitter) filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court in March, questioning the Centre’s powers under Section 69A of the IT Act after being ordered to block more than 8,000 accounts in India.
Later that year, Meta was fined Rs 213.14 crore by the Competition Commission of India for alleged violations of competition law linked to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which reportedly allowed data to be shared across Meta platforms. WhatsApp was also asked to trace the origin of flagged messages, raising questions around its end-to-end encryption. It has challenged the 2021 IT Rules in the Delhi HC.
State IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge had earlier told News18: “We’re not trying to change any policy but only trying to strengthen what already exists and ensure that there is ‘news’ and not misinformation that is given out to people,” adding, “the idea is to look at what already exists, connect the dots, and bring out an effective bill.”
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t…Read More
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for nearly two decades in the television and digital space. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has previously worked with t… Read More
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