Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18.[1][2] It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.[1][2]
The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the group received an investment from Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries through a rights issue of up to ₹27,000,000,000.[3]
Firstpost began in 2011 as an online news portal of Network18.[4] In May 2013, the news group was merged with the Indian edition of Forbes India whose four top editorial heads, including editor in chief Indrajit Gupta, were dismissed.[5][6] The event led to a media furor.[7] Thereafter on 31 May 2013, Firstpost took over a satirical website Fakingnews.com for an undisclosed amount.[8] According to Scroll.in, "Network18, with its online outlet FirstPost, famously lost its primetime anchors in 2014 because of a diktat against criticising Modi."[9]
In 2015, The Caravan reported on censorship in Firstpost over criticism of political leaders such as Arun Jaitley.[10] In January 2019, a weekly English-language print edition of Firstpost began,[4][11] and then ended in June 2019, with publication of Firstpost continuing online.[12] As of April 2020, Jaideep Giridhar is the executive editor of Firstpost in Mumbai, while Sanjay Singh is the deputy executive editor.[13] On 26 January 2023, the prime-time show Vantage was launched, hosted by managing editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay, formerly of WION.[14]
Fact-checkers have found Firstpost to have posted incorrect information on multiple occasions. In 2023, it misreported a photo of a grave with an iron grille as having been taken in Pakistan, even though the grave was actually located in Hyderabad, India.[2] In 2023, it falsely reported that Atiq Ahmed's vote had 'saved' the United Progressive Alliance government in 2008.[15][1] In 2025, it passed off an unrelated image from a 2021 video as being that of the perpetrator of the 2025 Pahalgam attack.[16]
