Om Sharma, an independent journalist with 18-years of experience and who was associated with Divya Himachal, an online news media outlet in early 2020 that majorly focuses on local news of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, faced charges of fake news for his critical reportage of local administration's poor pandemic response. The first First Information Report (FIR) charge against him was by local police of Baddi, an industrual area of the state, which had a significant migrant labourer populations from nearby states of Uttar Pradsh and Bihar. During COVID-19, the local administration was supposed to provide food ration to stuck migrant labourers. A group of 300-400 labourers had gathered in protest when they didn't receive promised rations and relief. On 29 March 2020, Sharma broadcast  their plight from ground zero through a Facebook Live video of 15-20 minutes from his own social media handle. 

Sharma was charged with spreading fake news and violating pandemic restrictions under the Disaster Management Act of 2005 and Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. Apart from Sharma, six other reporters faced similar FIRs. Despite the presence of three to four active press associations in Himachal Pradesh, none came in support of the reporters or condemned the complaint filed against Sharma by the local authorities. Sharma also did not get support from Divya Himachal or any other media organisation. Sharma also found it deeply disappointing that the local Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police and other officials of local administration with whom he had developed a professional long-standing relationship over the years had decided to file FIRs against him without any warning or discussion. He was penalised for performing his journalistic duties. 

The first major pushback happened when he was contacted by a Delhi-based news watchdog agency called Newslaundry that publicised his plight and this was reported by other online English news portals like The Wire. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New Delhi, meticulously gathered details about the fake news allegations levelled against him and sent their report to their headquarters in New York, USA.  The CPJ then published this report and sent a letter to the Chief Minister (CM) of Himachal Pradesh urging him to dismiss fake news charges levelled against journalists like him. They amplified the issue an drew significant attention to the challenges faced by journalists in the region. the CM made a public statement during an event in Mandi, declaring all FIRs registered against journalists during COVID-19 pandemic would be dismissed. Fortunately for Sharma, as his FIR had not yet reached the court, he could visit the Baddi police station and request for his FIRs to be dismissed without going through a lengthy adjudication process. However, there were other journalists whose cases had proceeded to the court stage and who have had to struggle to get their FIRs dismissed. For Sharma, this was a lesson in shoring up legal support and understanding the value of networks and allies outside the state. He continues as an independent journalist reporting on sensitive issues like illegal mining, drug cartels (Baddi is a major pharmaceutical industrial hub), and against pollution. But he is concerned about fake news charges being added to earlier threats of defamation and slander that journalists faced from local business and political elites.