The Karnataka government on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) tabled the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025 in the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing winter session amid widespread concerns that the powers given to the state could be misused.
As reported by MediaNama in June, the Bill aims to curb the dissemination of hate speech and prevent hate crime in both physical and electronic domains and authorises the state to take preventive action against offenders.
What has changed in the new Hate Speech Bill?
While the current hate speech bill is largely similar to the previous draft of the bill, which was leaked in June, it contains several new provisions.
According to the Bill, “hate speech” is any prejudiced communication in public view that is intended to cause disharmony, hatred or ill will against an individual, group or community. The various forms of prejudice include religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
This definition is virtually the same as the one in the previous draft. However, the proposed legislation also brings organisations or institutions under its ambit. If a person committing an offence under the law is a member of an organisation or an institution, then the people in charge of the organisation at the time of the offence and the organisation itself may also be punished. In order to avoid liability, they must prove that the offence occurred without their knowledge or that they exercised due diligence to prevent it.
The earlier version of the draft Bill included a provision of aiding and abetting hate speech; however, there was no mention of organisations whose members are accused of hate speech.
What Punishments Does the New Hate Speech Bill Propose?
According to the Bill, a hate crime is defined as the communication of hate speech and is punishable by a jail term of 1-7 years and a fine of Rs 50,000 for the first conviction. For repeat offenders, the punishment is harsher, with 2-10 years of prison term and a Rs 1 lakh fine.
In the previous draft, the accused, abettors and intermediaries, including social media platforms, internet service providers, and search engines, among others, faced a jail time of up to three years and a fine, or both.
Notably, the offences under the proposed legislation are cognisable and non-bailable and triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. The provisions of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, will be applicable.
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Will the Victims be Compensated?
While the proposed bill also provides for compensation of victims, depending on the injury caused and the gravity of the crime, it does not specify the quantum for the compensation, nor does it disclose the formula to determine it. As per the new draft, “the Court may award adequate compensation to the victim by calculating the injury caused due to hate crime,…
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