A Bill for Big Brother to weaponise speech

Towards the end of June, it was reported that the government of Karnataka was planning to introduce a bill for the prohibition of “misinformation and fake news”.

- Gautam Bhatia

Shortly after that, the media accessed an unofficial version of the proposed Bill. This Bill is not, admittedly, the first attempt in India to prohibit “fake news”. Two years ago, the central government amended the Information Technology rules, seeking to proscribe news about the central government that was “fake, false, or misleading”. This attempt was eventually struck down as unconstitutional by the Bombay High Court. If this version of the Karnataka Bill is enacted, however, then it will go even beyond the unconstitutional IT Rules amendment, and cause a serious chilling effect on the freedom of speech.

The problems begin from the definitions themselves. The Bill contemplates the establishment of a ‘Fake News on Social Media Regulatory Authority’, whose task, among other things, is to proscribe online content that is “anti-feminism”, disrespectful of “Sanatan symbols and beliefs”, promotes “superstition”, or is not based on “authentic research on subjects related to science, history, religion, philosophy, or literature”. As is obvious, these are very vague and subjective terms, which will result in the casting of a very broad net of censorship. One of the cardinal rules of free speech philosophy is that restrictive laws should be worded as precisely as language permits, and leave as little discretionary power as possible in the hands of executive agencies.