Lokesh Promises Crackdown Against Hate Speech on Social Media

Vijayawada: Education minister Nara Lokesh on Tuesday said the state government will take action against those posting conspiratorial and hateful content on social media.

“We welcome fair and constructive criticism of government policies,” he said in his speech at the ministerial panel’s social media meeting at the secretariat.

Lokesh underlined the need to strengthen accountability on digital platforms and improve the protection of citizens. He said freedom of expression “cannot be used as a shield for organized, malicious campaigns or targeted harassment, particularly against women”.

The meeting was attended by home minister Vangalapudi Anitha, information and Public Relations minister Kolusu Parthasarathi, senior officials from home, law and I&PR departments, senior officials from cyber crime and prosecution wings of the police and representatives from the state’s digital and social media agencies.

It held wide-ranging discussions on the IT Act 2000, including safe harbor provisions and blocking powers, the IT rules 2021 on compliance and traceability, the digital personal data protection act 2023 and the data protection framework, and judicial safeguards balancing freedom of expression and privacy.

“We welcome healthy criticism of government decisions, but we will not tolerate deliberate hate speech or slanderous campaigns,” Lokesh said.

Highlighting the dangers posed by AI-powered deepfakes and obscene content, he called for stringent measures to be taken to block such material and to frame age-appropriate norms for accessing social media platforms. He said there should be special surveillance against those who post vulgar or derogatory content targeting women.

Explaining that the government has no intention of reining in public opinion, Lokesh said protest areas such as Dharna Chowks will continue to be open to democratic expression.

However, he warned that coordinated and malicious misuse of social media in the name of freedom of expression will not be tolerated.

Referring to past instances where the judiciary and individuals were targeted through abusive posts, he said a robust legal framework was required, including monitoring of objectionable content posted from abroad.

Lokesh noted that the central government has launched the Sahyog Integration Portal to check the spread of deliberately false and harmful posts. He said laws and regulatory practices in other states and countries will be examined, noting that Australia, the EU and the UK have implemented independent regulations that include heavy penalties to deter abuse.