Karnataka unveils scary fake news bill

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Karnataka unveils scary fake news bill

The state government has unveiled the Karnataka Misinformation & Fake News (Prohibition) Bill—supposedly aimed at curbing fake news and misinformation:

Any social media users, if found guilty by the Authority for posting fake news on the social media platform shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend up to seven years and fine which may extend up to Rs 10 lakh or with both.

In short: sharing an inaccurate post on social media could put you in jail on par with serious non-bailable offenses like murder.

Enter, the committee: Since every bad idea requires a posse of babus to make it happen, the government will also set up a six-member “regulatory authority.” It includes a Minister as Chairperson, members of the legislature; two reps from social media platforms (appointed by the state government) and a senior bureaucrat. Nope, there won’t be a single journalist, lawyer or any kind of independent expert.

This committee’s job description:

… (a) to enforce a “complete ban” on fake news, (b) to block “abusive, obscene or anti-feminism” content, (c) to stop material that “disrespects Sanatan symbols and beliefs,” (d) to bar posts that “promote superstition,” (e) to allow only “authentic research” on science, history, religion, philosophy and literature, and (f) to recommend criminal prosecution under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The problems: are glaringly obvious. The definitions for fake news or misinformation are far too vague. For example: ‘Misinformation’ is defined as “knowingly or recklessly making a false or inaccurate statement of fact” and “fake news” includes “misquotation, distorted or edited media, or purely fabricated content.” This is a classic government MO to curb freedom of speech. And, as always, it is almost impossible to get speedy redressal once you’ve been accused of a crime.

Reading list: Indian Express has everything you need to know about the Karnataka bill. Economic Times and Internet Freedom Foundation have a pretty good breakdown of the bill and the controversy.

China’s secret plan to foil ‘Made in India’ iPhones

The context: The government has expended great resources and energy in attracting global manufacturers—looking to dilute their dependence on China. The jewel of this initiative is Apple—and its key supplier FoxConn. Apple has gone all-in on expanding its footprint in India. It is ramping up production of the new iPhone 17 with Foxconn—which is in the midst of building a new iPhone plant in Bangalore.

The dragon strikes back: No one expected Beijing to take any of this lying down. China has tightened the export of technology, skilled professionals, and specialised equipment—essential for Apple manufacturing. Most broadly, it clamped down on exports of rare earth materials—essential for batteries—which seems to have forced Trump to back down.

What happened now: Over 300 Chinese engineers working in FoxConn factories in South India have been sent home:

Their removal from India will slow down the training of local workforce as well as the transfer of manufacturing technology from China, likely raising production costs, the people said. The extraction won’t impact the quality of production in India, but it’s likely to affect efficiency on the assembly line, according to one of the people.

Also key to note: “Chinese managers have been critical in training Foxconn staff in India.”

The immediate fallout: Production and export timelines for the upcoming iPhone 17—particularly the Pro models—will be disrupted. Foxconn had already started trial production—with Tata Electronics supporting trial runs for its components. But FoxConn is already bringing in Vietnamese and Taiwanese workers to stay on course. The iPhone 17 is due to launch in September. MoneyControl has more on the big picture—and an optimistic take on the long-term effects.

India invents new SaaS: Soham as a Service

Silicon Valley startups are up in arms over an Indian techie named Soham Parekh—who has apparently conned at least six companies into hiring him.

Meet Soham Parekh: He is a software engineer with a MSc in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and a BA from the University of Mumbai. His CV features stints at high-profile AI startups like Synthesia, Union.ai etc. So far, so good.

Cue, Soham-Gate: Yesterday, a couple of startup founders—of Playground AI and Mixpanel—accused Parekh of working for multiple startups at the same time. He seemed to be targeting those backed by Silicon Valley’s prestigious Y Combinator. Soon enough, a flood of other founders claimed to have been similarly duped.

All of which made Soham instantly famous. And ofc, there were memes (more here):

The comeback: Then came Soham’s ‘Devdas-like’ response to his infamy: “I’ve been isolated, written off, and shut out by nearly everyone I’ve known… But building is the only thing I’ve ever truly known, and it’s what I’ll keep doing.” We’re not crying. Really, we are not.

The end: The entire fracas peaked with an AI founder offering Parekh a ‘second chance’: “He's definitely learned his lesson now and is going to work insanely hard to prove everyone wrong. Massive opportunity to bring on top talent with a chip on their shoulder.” Tech bros—always with the big heart.

Why do you even care?: Remote work has become a serious pain point for companies—who recruit employees from around the world. See: North Korean workers using tech salaries to fund their Supreme Leader’s weapons program. Moonlighting is a problem even without the geopolitical angle. A 2022 survey found that 65% of Indian IT employees said they or someone they knew had been moonlighting. It is why Wipro fired 300 employees in 2022—with Chairman Rishad Premji tweeting: “This is cheating—plain and simple.”

Reading list: Indian Express and The Telegraph have the best coverage of the Soham-gate controversy. BBC News has a good read on the issue of moonlighting among India’s tech workers.

Why was Diddy acquitted of sex trafficking?

The context: Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of multiple crimes—including rape, assault and human trafficking—spanning the entirety of his 30-year hip hop career. He was arrested in September last year and tried in a New York district court. Earlier this week, he was found guilty on two federal counts of transporting people for prostitution—facing a maximum of 10 years in prison. But he was acquitted of the most serious charges against him—racketeering and sex trafficking—saving him from serving multiple life sentences.

How Diddy did it: According to legal analysts, the prosecutors failed—despite detailed graphic evidence and 30 witnesses—because of the issue of ‘consent’. Diddy’s defence team did not call a single witness, and instead ripped apart the testimonies of the alleged victims:

Combs’ defense team never disputed their client’s history of domestic violence — including his physical assault of ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. They also readily acknowledged that Combs arranged drug-dazed, marathon sexual encounters in luxury hotels called “freak offs.” But the rapper’s lawyers always insisted that Ventura and another ex-girlfriend, identified in court under the pseudonym “Jane,” willingly participated in freak offs. The lawyers highlighted text messages in which both women expressed romantic affection for Combs and sometimes conveyed enthusiasm for their “hotel nights.”

One example:

“Baby. I want to FO sooooo bad,” Ms. Ventura wrote to Mr. Combs before the 2016 hotel altercation, using an abbreviation for freak-off. She added the caveat that she did not want to wear herself out before an upcoming movie premiere. “So let’s do it,” she later wrote to him.

As a result, the jury bought into the defence’s argument that these “grown women had agency, and could have left this relationship at any time, and they chose to stay, because there were benefits to that.”

Point to note: The racketeering conspiracy statute has been historically used to combat mob activity but has since been expanded to include sex crimes—most recently in the case against R Kelly.

But, but, but: Diddy’s defense team shielded him from the full extent of this statute by poking holes in his accusers’ accounts:

It presented dozens, if not hundreds, of text messages sent by his former girlfriends, some of which conveyed enthusiasm, even apparent excitement, for the sex at the center of the case. It deployed seven of its phalanx of nine lawyers to probe inconsistencies in various witnesses’ testimony — at one point undercutting a witness’s timeline so significantly that the judge called it “a real Perry Mason moment.”

What’s next: Diddy’s lawyers will do their best to minimise his time in jail—even limiting it to time served. OTOH, the prosecutors want him to at least do 4-5 years. Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good analysis on whether Diddy can stage a comeback. (NBC News)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Peter Thiel and a bunch of tech billionaires just filed plans to launch a new US bank that’ll cater to startups and crypto firms.

sports & entertainment

Tragedy in Spain—Liverpool star Diogo Jota and his brother Andre died in a car crash after their Lamborghini veered off the road and was engulfed in flames, due to a burst tire.
Michael Madsen, the actor known for his roles in ‘Reservoir Dogs’, ‘Kill Bill’, and ‘Donnie Brasco’, has died of cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu at the age of 67.
Deepika Padukone just made history—she’s the first Indian to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, joining the Class of 2026 alongside Timothée Chalamet, Emily Blunt, and more.
Indian Express has the details on Suruchi Phogat—India’s latest teen shooting sensation who’s bagged a World Cup gold hat-trick and swept the nationals.
Shubman Gill smashed a record 269 at Edgbaston—breaking Kohli and Gavaskar’s marks—as India piled on 587 and left England’s top order in tatters by stumps.

health & environment

India finally has a clearer picture of its ghost cats—an extensive new survey finds around 477 snow leopards living across Ladakh, making up most of the country’s population.
A fierce wildfire on the Greek island of Crete forced around 1,500 people—many of them tourists—to evacuate hotels and homes, as strong winds and arid conditions made it tough for firefighters to control the blaze.
Japan’s Tokara Islands have been rattled by over 900 quakes in two weeks—and no one knows when the shaking will stop.
Seoul’s being sweet on lovebugs—officials are spraying water, not poison, to tackle the summer swarm, even as residents beg for bug spray.
Two fatal rabies cases—an Aussie man dies after a bat bite, and UP kabaddi player Brijesh Solanki succumbs weeks after a stray puppy nipped him.
Non-alcoholic beer might soon taste a lot better—scientists say swapping barley for milled rice could be the game-changer brewers need.

meanwhile, in the world

Israel used a powerful 500lb bomb in a Monday airstrike on a crowded Gaza café that killed dozens—experts say using such an indiscriminate weapon in a civilian area could amount to a war crime under international law.
Just days before ceasefire talks, Israel launched one of its deadliest Gaza assaults in months—nearly 300 killed this week, including a top cardiologist and his family.
Hundreds of Palestinians have fled the Tulkarem refugee camp, packing up their belongings after Israel issued demolition orders that could leave 400 families homeless.
Trump’s new trade deal with Vietnam slaps a 40% tariff on goods rerouted through the country—aimed at shutting down backdoor channels, used by countries such as China, used to dodge US import duties.
Republicans want to tax migrant remittances—part of Trump’s crackdown, but experts warn it could push more people to cross illegally.
Russia has become the first country to officially recognise the Taliban government, accepting its new Afghan ambassador four years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Guardian has a must-read on the rise of ‘microefficiencies’—from brushing your teeth in the shower or wearing slip-on shoes to save time.

meanwhile, in India

Grieving families were misled and pressured by Air India into filling complex forms to get compensation, says lawyer, calling the airline’s behaviour after the Flight 171 crash “ethically outrageous.”
Twenty-seven thousand people have been displaced from 9 acres of so-called ‘encroached’ land, as part of the Delhi government’s demolition drive.
India and the US will ink a 10-year defence framework to further expand strategic ties between the two countries.
An F-35 B fighter jet of the British Royal Navy has been stranded in Kerala for over a fortnight, leading the state’s tourism department to quip, “Kerala, the destination you'll never want to leave.”
And now a 40-member expert team from the UK is coming in to assess the hydraulic snag that’s kept the jet grounded.
A portion of a building on the premises of the Ajmer Dargah has collapsed amid heavy rain. Members of the dargah’s committee blame the government for “neglecting the maintenance” of the site.
Move over Naples—Mumbai’s street chaat and thalis have landed it #5 on TasteAtlas’ list of the world’s top 100 food cities, with five more Indian names in the mix.

Three things to see

One: Aamir Khan is set to make his debut in a Tamil movie—with a special cameo in Rajinikanth’s upcoming ‘Coolie’ directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. We now have the first look of Khan playing Dahaa. Goonda-meets-Sherlock Holmes… interesting. (The Hindu)

Two: Glen Powell will star in Edgar Wright’s remake of 1987 film ‘The Running Man’ (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). Based on a 1982 Stephen King novel, the film takes place in a dystopian society where a game show pits contestants—aka the ‘runners’ against the ‘hunters’. The movie is slated to release on November 7. See the trailer below. (Variety)

Three: Foo Fighters are back with a new song to mark their 30th year anniversary—aptly titled ‘Today’s Song’. This is their first single since October 2023. Reminder: The band was hit with scandals in recent times with frontman Dave Grohl announcing his extra marital affair and having a child out of his marriage—and the exit of drummer Josh Freese. (The Guardian)