Billionaire businessman Gautam Adani’s The Adani Group and the “Hindu nationalist” online publication OpIndia are two Indian entities who have been tagged as “press freedom predators” by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) aka Reporters Without Borders, a globally respected journalism watchdog.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, also figures in the “press freedom predators” list for 2025 that names 34 individuals and organisations who the RSF says “attacked journalists and the right to information”.

“What do they have in common? A hatred of press freedom,” the RSF, known for its annual World Press Freedom Index, wrote in the introduction to the list.

“Their methods differ, but their objectives converge: silencing independent media voices and trampling on the right to news and information,” it added.

Published every 2 November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the list highlights those who have used legal pressure, online harassment, disinformation or state machinery to obstruct the free flow of news.

Elon Musk: X marks the misinformation

The US stands 57th out of 180 in the RSF’s 2025 Press Freedom Index, and Musk’s role in shaping the media ecosystem there drew sharp criticism from the RSF.

Since acquiring Twitter in October 2022 and rebranding it as X, Musk has dismantled several guardrails that once governed the platform, it said, citing the shift to paid verification, the reinstatement of previously banned accounts and heavy cuts to moderation teams.

These, the RSF said, have accelerated X’s transformation into “a major vehicle for the dissemination of disinformation”.

From September 2024 to September 2025, Musk attacked media outlets three times a day on average, it noted.

His 2025 “hit list” includes an attack on Wikipedia, which he described as an extension of “traditional media propaganda”, and a smear campaign against the Associated Press, which he called “Associated Propaganda”.

The RSF described X as Musk’s “deadly weapon” used to discredit journalists and erode trust in independent reporting.

Adani Group: Gag-order ‘weapon’

India’s low ranking of 151 out of 180 forms the backdrop to the RSF’s criticism of the Adani Group.

This is how the RSF described the business house: “A powerful business conglomerate led by Gautam Adani, India’s second richest man and close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Adani Group and its subsidiaries have brought around ten 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.”

For 2025, the RSF highlighted “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 also underlined “a “John Doe” clause allowing the proceedings to be extended to unidentified third parties and potentially leading to unlimited censorship,” and cited journalistic content takedown orders from the information and broadcasting ministry targeting media outlets Newslaundry, The Wire and HW News and journalist Ravish Kumar.

The RSF described the use of gag suits as the group’s “deadly weapon”.

OpIndia: Critics as target

OpIndia makes the list for a different set of tactics.

The RSF said the website, known for its Hindu nationalist editorial line, “is well known for its repeated attacks on journalists critical of the government.”

The website’s content, the RSF said, “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.”,” the RSF added.

For 2025, the RSF documented 96 articles by OpIndia that it said targeted journalists and media outlets, along with a 200-page “report” built on conspiracy theories alleging a “narrative war” against the Modi government and “regime change”.

When the RSF nominated Dhanya Rajendran, co-founder of The News Minute, for its Prize for Impact, OpIndia promptly targeted her, the RSF noted.

The RSF called “conspiracy” theories OpIndia’s “deadly weapon”.

Who else is on press freedom predators list?

This year’s list includes powerful figures and institutions with long records of repressing journalists, including China’s Xi Jinping, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko, and the Israel Defence Forces which has been cited for the deaths of nearly 220 journalists.

Myanmar’s military authorities, Burkina Faso’s junta and Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel also figure prominently.

The RSF noted that technology is increasingly being used to restrict reporting, with examples ranging from China’s propaganda-driven chatbots to Musk’s use of X.