Decoding Karnataka's plan to track hate speech, fake news

The Karnataka government has begun working on a unit that will scrutinise complaints and monitor the internet for misinformation and hate speech, according to tender documents and remarks by state’s information technology minister Priyank Kharge. He said a rough budget of at least ₹10 crore will be allotted, and shared new details of how the unit will function.

- Aditi Agrawal

 

The plan to create such a unit — named the Information Disorder Tackling Unit — was first announced in June, weeks after a new government headed by the Congress party took over. On Tuesday, the state released a call for proposal (CFP) with broad outlines about the project as it sought applications to constitute teams with three distinct mandates – fact checking, analytics and capacity building.

The proposal has drawn concerns that the project could jeopardise freedom of speech online. It comes against the backdrop of the Union government’s attempts to create its own fact-check unit, which has been kept in limbo after being challenged by comedian Kunal Kamra and slew of media bodies in the Bombay high court.

Kharge said the Karnataka plan was different. “What they [the Centre] have tried to do is amend the IT Act (Information Technology Act, 2000) and try to force in their narrative … We are not amending a single act. We are not getting in any new rules. We are merely using technology to determine what is [legal] as per the current IPC sections or current law of the land. It is as simple as that,” said Kharge, who also holds the biotechnology portfolio.

The CFP does not specify a budget. “Once the empanelment is done, we will figure out what kind of physical and digital infrastructure is required and then we will do it. Right now, the in-principle agreement is over 10 crores,” Kharge said.

The minister said the IDTU will be physically housed within the offices of the state government. When asked about the timeline for the unit to be up and running, Kharge said “yesterday” in a lighter vein, but added that all necessary protocols first need to be followed. “We have to follow all the rules,” he said.

Fact-check: Concerns over process