Taking a cue from neighbouring Karnataka’s model, the Telangana cabinet has approved the Hate Speech and Hate Crime Prevention Bill, 2026.
The proposed Bill seeks to curb hate speech, inflammatory posts, and actions that disturb communal harmony or incite violence and clashes.
The legislation was first proposed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy during his Christmas Eve address at LB Stadium in Hyderabad on December 20, 2025. He had said the law would ensure strict punishment for those engaging in speech or actions that insult other faiths.
“Every citizen is free to practise their religion, but respecting other religions is equally essential. Any attempt to disturb communal harmony will be dealt with firmly,” the Chief Minister had said at the time.
The bill, prepared on the lines of the Karnataka model, will be tabled in the assembly soon.
The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, was passed by the Assembly and the Council in January last year. It was the first such stand-alone experiment in the country.
However, the critics of the legislation contend that it gives excessive discretion to senior police and administrative officers to decide what speech falls under the law, raising the risk of conflicts of interest, especially when the government is being criticised.
There are fears that its broad definitions could be misused to suppress free speech, drawing comparisons to the unconstitutional Section 66A of the IT Act.
The Karnataka legislation goes beyond the existing central laws in several ways and the punishment for committing a hate crime ranges from one to seven years of imprisonment with a fine of ₹50,000, while repetitive offences will attract a minimum of two years imprisonment, extendable up to 10 years, along with a fine of ₹1 lakh.
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