As the Congress government in Karnataka is gearing to introduce a ‘fake news’ law in the state, the state Congress committee has already started targeting social media posts that it considers “derogatory” and “disrespectful”.
The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), has reportedly filed an FIR against the BJP Karnataka unit at High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru for making a post about emergency on X. The FIR was made on the complaint of S Manohar, General Secretary, KPCC, which reportedly alleged that contents of the video as “disrespectful” and aimed at creating inciting hatred among different religious and communal groups.
A 38-second AI-generated video was posted from the BJP Karnataka handle on 26th June equating former PM Indira Gandhi with German dictator Adolf Hitler commemorating the dark period of emergency on its 50th anniversary. The video described the emergency period through visuals showing press freedom being curbed, people being beaten for speaking against the government and put behind the bars.
In the video, Indira Gandhi is shown with Hitler’s well-known moustache.
INDIRA = INDIA❌
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) June 26, 2025
INDIRA = HITLER ✅ pic.twitter.com/19rI7nQNXx
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara justified the FIR saying that it was filed after receiving complaints against the post that tried to “malign the leader who served the country for many years”.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar defended the declaration of emergency by Indira Gandhi saying that after emergency, she came back to power after receiving people’s mandate. “I think it’s a problem with the BJP, they should know that after then emergency was declared, the entire country has given a mandate to Indira Gandhi. She ruled the country in 1980. The Janata Dal or any other party, could not maintain and they could not bring back their government. So the Congress Party under the leadership of Indira Gandhi came back to power. And she ruled, she sacrificed her life for the sake of this country,” Shivakumar said.
Karnataka government to introduce law against “fake news”
The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka has proposed a bill named the Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill, 2025, which aims to put behind the bars anyone found spreading what the state government categorises as false or inaccurate information on social media. The bill will empower the state government to start criminal proceedings against any person, found to be sharing what the government considers as false information. It confers sweeping powers on the state government to take action against not just people residing in Karnataka but also those living outside the state.
25th June marked 50 years of emergency, a dark period in the history of Indian democracy, which was imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remain in power. A resolution was passed by the Union Cabinet on the day to pay tribute to the exemplary courage of the countless individuals whose right to freedom was taken away and who continued a valiant resistance to the Emergency’s excesses despite the hardships they faced.
