Lokesh Promises Crackdown Against Hate Speech on Social Media

Vijayawada: Education minister Nara Lokesh on Tuesday said the state government would act against those posting conspiratorial and hate-filled content on social media.

“We welcome fair and constructive criticism of government policies,” he said while addressing a meeting of the ministers’ panel on social media at the secretariat.

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

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

It held wide-ranging deliberations on the IT Act, 2000 — including safe harbour provisions and blocking powers — the IT rules, 2021 with respect to compliance and traceability, the digital personal data protection act, 2023 and its data protection framework, as well as judicial safeguards balancing free speech and privacy.

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

Stressing the dangers posed by AI-driven deepfake and obscene content, he called for strict measures to curb such material and for the framing of age-appropriate norms for access to social media platforms. Special surveillance, he said, must be maintained against those posting vulgar or derogatory content targeting women.

Clarifying that the government has no intention of curbing public opinion, Lokesh said protest spaces such as Dharna Chowks would continue to be available for democratic expression.

However, he warned that coordinated and malicious misuse of social media in the name of free speech would 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 had introduced the Sahyog Integration Portal to check the spread of deliberately false and harmful posts. Laws and regulatory practices in other states and countries would be studied, he said, noting that Australia, the EU and the UK enforced independent regulations with heavy penalties to deter misuse.