The Karnataka Government on Wednesday tabled the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, during the third day of the winter session of the Assembly.
The Bill is intended to “curb and prevent dissemination, publication or promotion of hate speech and crimes, which cause disharmony, hatred in the society, against the person or group of persons, organisations”, and to provide punishment to the perpetrators and compensation to the injured victims.
The Bill, piloted by Home Minister G Parameshwara at the Legislative Assembly, was cleared by the Cabinet a week ago. First-time offenders may face imprisonment ranging from one to seven years and a fine of Rs 5,000, while repeat offenders could face up to 10 years in jail, apart from fines up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Bill, when enacted, will also empower the government to remove the hate crime material from various media portals where it was posted.
The proposed legislation defines ‘hate speech’ as any public expression — verbal, written, visual, or electronic, which is intended to incite enmity, hatred, or ill-will against individuals or groups based on prejudicial interests such as religion, caste, gender, sexual orientation, language, or disability. Hate crimes are broadly defined to include acts of incitement, propagation, or abetment of hate speech.
The Bill also has provisions to hold organisations guilty of such offences. “If the person committing an offence under this Act, is an organisation or institution, every person who, at the time of the offence committed, was in charge of the business of the same, as well as such organisation or institution, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly,” it said.
A designated officer notified by the state government will be empowered to block or remove the hate crime materials by directing service providers to remove the content from their domains.