New Delhi: Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who publish the Press Freedom Index in which India ranks 151st out of 180 countries, last month published a Press Freedom Predators list in which two Indian entities were named.

The 'predators' list comprises people, organisations, corporations and governments who "kill, censor, imprison and assault journalists, throttle news media, denigrate journalism, or use its codes to manipulate information for propaganda purposes."

The RSF has identified the Gautam Adani-run conglomerate Adani Group and the Hindutva propaganda website OpIndia as 'press freedom predators'.

Among global predators are veterans like the Chinese Communist Party with Xi Jinping at its head, Saudi Arabia’s prince Mohammed bin Salman, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

Also in the list are the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), responsible for the deaths of nearly 220 journalists under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Myanmar’s State Peace and Security Commission, Burkina Faso’s military junta, led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré and billionaire Elon Musk who uses his social media X to harass journalists.

Adani

RSF notes that Adani is the country's 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."

OpIndia

RSF identifies OpIndia's "deadly weapon," on the other hand, as 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. OpIndia's content portrays itself as part of a fight against a supposed “liberal media cartel.” With the help of troll networks, it disseminates narratives aimed at discrediting critical journalists and media outlets, often accusing them of being part of a “Soros ecosystem” – referring to the US billionaire philanthropist – or an “anti-Indian lobby"."

In its 2025 hit list, the RSF says were the website's 96 items targeting journalists and media, the publication of a 200-page “report” based on conspiracy theories that accuses a supposed network of journalists and media outlets of waging a “narrative war” against the Modi government and “working towards regime change in India” and articles that are often followed by coordinated waves of online harassment targeting the journalists mentioned.

After RSF announced that Dhanya Rajendran, cofounder and editor of the independent media outlet The News Minute, had been nominated for its Prize for Impact, she was the target of defamatory content on OpIndia on October 23, the list says.

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