Indian tech hub state pushes jail terms for fake news sparks worries

BENGALURU - Draft legislation by India’s tech hub state of Karnataka that would impose jail terms of up to seven years for spreading “fake news” and other misinformation has stirred concerns among free speech activists that it could lead to censorship.

With nearly one billion internet users, the stakes are high in a sprawling country of many ethnic and religious communities where fake news risks stirring deadly strife and AI deepfake videos have alarmed officials during elections.

Indias federal government already regulates social media content with legislation empowering it to order takedowns of disputed content. But some states such as Karnataka have begun taking their own measures.

Karnataka’s Bill, the strictest of its kind yet, stipulates that those posting “fake news” and “anti-feminist” content, or “promoting superstition”, would face imprisonment along with potential fines.

The 11-page Karnataka Mis-Information And Fake News (Prohibition) Bill does not define such offences in practice, but said special courts and a regulatory committee would be set up to implement it.

Free speech advocates have cited what they say would be the risk of selective enforcement arising from Karnatakas measure, and flagged concerns that people posting memes or making honest mistakes online could be prosecuted.

“Misinformation is fairly subjective and every person who uses the internet is susceptible to falling within the dragnet of this law,” said Mr Apar Gupta, founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation, a New Delhi-based digital advocacy group which first made the Karnataka draft legislation public.

The state government of Karnataka, home to the city of Bengaluru that hosts the offices or branches of many Indian and foreign tech giants, has said the Bill will be released for public consultation before implementation.

Mr Priyank Kharge, Karnataka’s information technology minister, said on June 27 “there is a lot of misinformation on the proposed