On Tuesday (23rd July), Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara revealed in the state assembly that the state Police has registered 37 FIRs/cases this year over ‘derogatory’ social media posts against politicians. According to the Moneycontrol report, these social media users were accused of ‘spreading false information’ or making derogatory remarks against politicians, mostly Congress leaders.
The Moneycontrol report added that out of 37 cases, the action was initiated against 12 posts that were accused of making ‘derogatory’ remarks against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, and five posts were deemed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Some of the cases were registered for making posts against Deputy CM and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar and IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge.
A few cases have also been registered against social media posts that are accused of making derogatory remarks against Union Minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy, BJP state president BY Vijayendra, BJP leader Anant Kumar Hegde, and others.
Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara made this revelation in the state assembly while responding to a query raised by Congress leader and Tiptur MLA K Shadakshari. He was asked regarding action taken against those spreading false information about public representatives on social media.
The Minister also revealed that most of these cases are still under investigation and they were filed before the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) came into effect on 1st July 2024.
The highest number of cases have been registered in Bengaluru (eight). Six cases each have been registered in Uttara Kannada and Chikkamagaluru. They are followed by Udupi (five), Shivamogga (three), Mangaluru (two), and Kalaburagi (two). One case each has been registered in Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur, Belagavi, Kodagu, and Gadag.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Bengaluru city police commissioner B Dayananda said, “We are taking action against hate posts on social media based on inputs received either through police stations or from the state fact-check unit. Our intelligence division also has a separate internal fact-check unit to monitor social media posts.”
In most of these cases, the Police have invoked IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, or language), 295 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), and 505 (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes). Additionally, Section 67 of the IT Act has also been invoked.
As per the report, an FIR was registered at the Napoklu police station in Kodagu district against a social media post that was accused of targeting CM Siddaramaiah. While a charge sheet was filed in the court, the accused settled the case with a fine of Rs 5,000 at a Lok Adalat hearing.
BJP charges the Congress government with using its ‘fact-check’ unit for ‘vendetta Politics’
The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack on the Siddaramaiah government in the state and accused it of using its ‘fact-check’ unit for ‘vendetta Politics’.
BJP spokesperson Surabhi Hodigere lambasted the Congress government for establishing a fact-checking unit in Karnataka. She also expressed concerns about lack of transparency in criteria, politically biased vendor selection, and defiance of Supreme Court orders.
She said, “Despite the Supreme Court’s stay order against a central fact-checking unit, the Karnataka government persists with its own, showing blatant disregard for judicial authority. The BJP is pursuing legal action to ensure compliance with judicial directives,” she said.
The senior Police official pointed out that many cases were registered based on the information from the state fact-check unit. It is pertinent to note that none of the companies that are part of the state’s fact-check unit are signatories of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
Strikingly, the Congress government in Karnataka established its own fact-checking unit called the Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU) in March 2024. It claims to target fake news and misinformation, especially on social media.
The four firms part of the IDTU are namely Gauri Media, Logically Infomedia Private Ltd, Trylika Technology Ltd, and Newsplus Communications for the IDTU operations. A fact-checking team, an analytics team, and a capacity-building team comprise the three teams at IDTU.
IT-BT officials said that 537 fact-checks were conducted in the last 90 days, resulting in 537 cases and 18 FIRs.
Report citing sources stated that the state government has allocated Rs 3.19 crore for the fact-checking unit, which started operations just before the Lok Sabha election model code of conduct came into effect.
Muzzling voice of dissenters and authoritarian crackdown
While Congress and its I.N.D.I. alliance partners have been alleging that the Modi government has imposed an undeclared emergency and is stifling opposition voices, they have been blatantly hounding and launching an authoritarian crackdown against their rivals, arresting or filing FIRs against one journalist after another with intent to muzzle the voice of dissent.
Earlier this year, in June, the Congress government had invoked Section 153-A and 502(2) of the IPC against popular journalist Ajeet Bharti. They accused him of making derogatory remarks against Rahul Gandhi with “intent to provoke dissent and hatred among various religious groups” and aimed to “disturb public peace and incite disorder”.
Three Karnataka Police personnel had reached his house, uninitiated, claiming that they just wanted to deliver him a notice. However, while recounting the incident, Ajeet Bharti described it as a tactic of intimidation.
However, on 24th June, the Karnataka High Court gave relief to Bharti and halted the proceedings against him. The court noted that the statement in the video tweet was based on reports from two national newspapers.
Meanwhile, the FIR against Ajeet Bharti came days after an FIR was registered against an X user named Befittingfacts over flimsy grounds.
Earlier, on 18th May, Karnataka Police arrested X user MumbaichaDon aka Bhiku Mhatre from his house in Goa over the now-deleted post on social media against the Congress manifesto.
I.N.D.I. alliance partners who claim to champion the cause of democracy, free speech, and liberalism, have been notorious for their authoritarian regime, launching assaults on democratic practices and arresting naysayers and rivals on flimsy grounds. Ironically, several I.N.D.I. alliance-ruled states have booked journalists, X users, and supporters of their rival parties accusing them of spreading hatred or fake news, as has been alleged by the Karnataka government in this case, they have been caught peddling fake news on an industrial scale, especially around the Lok Sabha election phase.
