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Reporters Without Borders has named Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani Group as one of 33 "press freedom predators" for 2026, accusing the conglomerate of using lawsuits to silence journalists who report on its businesses.
The Paris-based press freedom group, known by its French initials RSF, released the list on Nov. 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. It placed the Adani Group in its legal category, alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, describing them as actors "who seek to criminalise journalism via abusive legal proceedings against media outlets and journalists." It is the second year in a row that the group has appeared on the list.
U.S. President Donald Trump was added this year for the first time. American billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X, was named in a category covering those who smear the press and stir distrust of journalists. Other names include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. OpIndia, a right-wing Indian news website, also made the list.
The lawsuits
RSF said the Adani Group and its subsidiaries have brought about 10 legal actions against more than 15 critical journalists and media outlets since 2017, combining civil and criminal defamation claims in what it calls gag suits.
In September 2025, Adani Enterprises Ltd., the group's flagship company, sued several journalists and websites for defamation in a Delhi court, saying it was aggrieved by "certain reporters, activists and organisations." A civil judge issued an order, without hearing the other side, that barred them from publishing material deemed defamatory to the company. An appeals court set the order aside for four of the journalists less than two weeks later, saying they should have been heard first, without ruling on the merits. Lawyers for Adani Enterprises had argued in court that the law allowed such orders.
RSF also pointed to the case of Ravi Nair, an independent journalist who has written about the group. A magistrate's court in Mansa, Gujarat, convicted him in February of criminally defaming Adani Enterprises over 17 posts on X and sentenced him to a year in prison. A higher court suspended the sentence and granted him bail in March while he appeals. He was held in custody again in September after a court issued a warrant when he missed a hearing, and was granted bail on Sept. 24.
India ranks 157th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
Adani, 64, built the group from a commodities trading business into a conglomerate that runs ports, airports, power plants and mines, and owns broadcaster NDTV. In October, Forbes ranked him and his family first on its list of India's richest people, with a fortune of $112.7 billion.
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