Adani Group, OpIndia named in RSF’s ‘Press Freedom Predators’ list
Paris: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has included two Indian entities—the Gautam Adani-run conglomerate Adani Group and the Hindutva propaganda website OpIndia—on its 2025 ‘Press Freedom Predators’ list for promoting online harassment and judicial intimidation of critical media.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the recently released RSF list, which complements its annual World Press Freedom Index, identifies offenders by the method of suppression, ranging from legal harassment to physical violence, economic pressure and coordinated disinformation efforts.
RSF notes that Adani is India’ second richest man and close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It says that the Adani Group and its subsidiaries have brought “around 10 legal actions against more than 15 critical journalists and media outlets since 2017 as part of a systematic use of gag suits, combining civil and criminal defamation lawsuits, with the aim of silencing the independent press.”
It lists in Adani’s 2025 “hit list” the two civil and criminal defamation gag suits against eight journalists and three media outlets, in which the court granted an ex parte injunction allowing Adani to decide which content was “defamatory” without a further hearing. It noted that the proceedings were extended to unidentified third parties and “potentially leading to unlimited censorship.” It also said that takedown orders were, immediately afterwards, issued to outlets like The Wire, Newslaundry, and HW News and independent journalist Ravish Kumar. As its “deadly weapon,” the report identifies Adani’s “use of gag suits.”
On the other hand, RSF identifies OpIndia’s “deadly weapon” as the dissemination of conspiracy theories. In its introduction to the list, RSF said that in 2025, those who prey on press freedom were also distinguished by their increased use of technology to restrict the freedom to report the news, and included OpIndia as an example.
It says: “The Hindu nationalist website OpIndia is well known for its repeated attacks on journalists critical of the government. With the help of troll networks, it disseminates narratives aimed at discrediting critical journalists and media outlets.”
The RSF report says that in 2025 OpIndia published 96 articles targeting journalists and outlets critical of the Indian government. These pieces were often followed by online abuse directed at those mentioned, it says.
