Global press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has stated that the Hindu right-wing website OpIndia has played an active role in discrediting independent media and journalists in India. According to the RSF report, between 2023 and 2025, OpIndia published over 314 articles targeting journalists and independent news outlets, which subsequently triggered large-scale online harassment campaigns.

The report further noted that immediately after the publication of these articles, waves of trolling, threats, and coordinated harassment spread across social media. Many of these campaigns were reportedly organized through active groups on platforms like Telegram, some of which had nearly 30,000 members.

RSF analysed 43 articles that focused on five prominent journalists—Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Mohammed Zubair, Rajdeep Sardesai, Ravish Kumar, and Rana Ayyub. Of these, 32 articles were followed by intensified online harassment campaigns. Foreign journalists such as Hannah Ellis-Petersen (The Guardian) and Avani Dias (ABC News) were also targeted.

RSF has appealed to the Indian justice system to investigate these cyber harassment campaigns and urged social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), to take action against hate content and accounts spreading harassment. The organization also called on Google to review AdSense revenue funding to OpIndia, noting that financial support enables platforms that target journalists and independent media.

RSF warned that continuous and coordinated online trolling and harassment pose a serious threat to journalists’ safety and press freedom, impacting the overall media environment in India.