Criminalising misinformation or fake news will have a chilling effect on free speech and muzzle independent journalism, said digital rights groups in their response to Karnataka’s recent legislation to tackle fake news.

Entities like SFLC.in have recently issued a statement criticising the draft Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News Bill, 2025, for penalising individuals found to be disseminating content deemed “misleading” or “fake” on social media. The penalty for such actions is an imprisonment term ranging from two to seven years.

Noting how the Bill proposes the creation of a “Fake News on Social Media Regulatory Authority” that will take action against flagged content, SFLC.in said, “This Bill could be yet another framework under which the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Designated Officer under the IT Blocking Rules, 2009, could exercise regulatory control and issue blocking orders—as defined under clause 2(l) of the Bill.”

SFLC.in also pointed out that the High Court of Bombay has already held such provisions for government-authorised fact-checking agencies as unconstitutional.

“Instead of opting for a punitive approach to combat misinformation and fake news, SFLC.in urges the Karnataka government to reconsider various provisions of the Bill as per the prevailing constitutional law jurisprudence in India,” said SFLC.in, asking that the government engage with a diverse group of stakeholders to understand the impact of such a law.

Similarly, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) stated that the “Authority” wrongly designates factual news as “fake” and orders its takedown. Meanwhile, the affected party, which can be a news publisher or an activist, has no immediate recourse to redressal.

“The High Court could be moved, but that is a high-cost, high-barrier remedy not accessible to all. The absence of a dedicated appellate mechanism means mistakes or abuses in enforcement may go uncorrected for long periods, causing irreparable harm to free expression,” said the IFF, giving the example of a news article flagged and taken down as “fake” during an election only to be proved otherwise months or years later.

The IFF thus asked the government in a public statement to drop the criminal provisions and opt for “rights-respecting civil or administrative measures” focused on transparency, corrections, and platform due process. Like SFLC.in, IFF also asked the government to hold discussions and publish the full draft bill and background note for public consultation before presenting it to the Assembly.

Published on July 1, 2025