Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 17, 2026

Firstpost

Firstpost is an Indian news website forming part of the Network18 Group, owned by Reliance Industries and Mukesh Ambani. Firstpost has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.

Last revised
May 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 6 min
Length
1,343 w
Citations
33
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Firstpost
Parent companyNetwork18 Group
StatusLive
Founded9 May 2011 (2011-05-09)
Country of originIndia
Headquarters locationMumbai, India
Official websitefirstpost.com

Firstpost is an Indian news website forming part of the Network18 Group, owned by Reliance Industries and Mukesh Ambani.1 Firstpost has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.23

The Network18 Group was originally founded by Raghav Bahl in 1993. In January 2012, it received an investment from Reliance through a rights issue, and lost control to it by 2014.45

History

Firstpost began in 2011 as an online news portal of Network18.6 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.78 The event led to a media furor.9 Thereafter on 31 May 2013, Firstpost took over a satirical website Fakingnews.com for an undisclosed amount.10

In 2015, The Caravan reported on censorship in Firstpost over criticism of political leaders such as Arun Jaitley.11 In January 2019, a weekly English-language print edition of Firstpost began,612 and then ended in June 2019, with publication of Firstpost continuing online.13 As of April 2020, Jaideep Giridhar is the executive editor of Firstpost in Mumbai, while Sanjay Singh is the deputy executive editor.14 On 26 January 2023, the prime-time show Vantage was launched, hosted by managing editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay, formerly of WION.15

Fact-checkers have found Firstpost to have posted incorrect information on multiple occasions. In 2019, it published a misleading article claiming that Parineeti Chopra was removed as brand ambassador from Beti Bachao campaign after her comments on the CAA regulation.16 On 19 November 2020, it republished a report by Press Trust of India, which claimed that the Indian military had carried out "pinpoint strikes" that day in Pakistan administered Kashmir, a claim that was later refuted by the army, which clarified that the report was based on analysis of ceasefire violations on 13 November, and not the 19th.17 In 2020, it falsely reported that the Indian Government has launched a video conferencing called "Say Namaste" app.1819 In 2022, it misreported a farmers protest in Balochistan, Pakistan, against the government's decision to buy onions and tomatoes from Afghanistan and Iran, as 'Sunni' farmers destroying tomatoes because they came from 'Shia' Iran as aid.20 In 2023, it falsely claimed Pakistan denied airspace to India's plane carrying relief aid for Turkey.21 In 2023, it used an unrelated photo from Hyderabad, India, in a report about several real-life necrophilia cases in Pakistan.3 In 2023, an Italian man who spreads hoax tweets using fake accounts made an account impersonating Nobel Laureate Claudia Goldin and claimed that Amartya Sen had died in a tweet that went viral and was reported by several news agencies in India, including Firstpost.222324 In 2023, it falsely reported that Atiq Ahmed's vote had 'saved' the United Progressive Alliance government in 2008.25 In 2024, it reported the claim of the Indian government's Ministry of Culture that Narendra Modi had inaugurated UAE's first Hindu temple, which turmed out to be false since UAE already had three Hindu temples in Dubai; Firstpost later clarified that the temple was the first Hindu temple in UAE's capital Abu Dhabi and not in UAE in general.2627 In 2024, Firstpost reported a claim from The Economic Times that Sheikh Hasina had alleged American involvement in regime change in Bangladesh, which was later disputed by Hasina's son, Sajeeb Wazed, who claimed that Hasina had never made such a statement.2829 In 2024, it circulated false claim that deceased Bangladeshi Saiful Islam as lawyer of ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das’ lawyer.30 In 2025, it passed off an unrelated image from a 2021 video as being that of the perpetrator of the 2025 Pahalgam attack.31

References

References

  1. Kannan, Indira (2017). "Part 2: A Channel is Born". Network18: The Audacious Story of a Start-up That Became a Media Empire. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-93-86057-85-3.
  2. Chatterjee, Swasti (3 June 2020). "News18, Firstpost Tweet Old Video of Waterspout as Cyclone Nisarga". BOOM. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  3. "Media misreport: Viral photo of grave with iron grille is from Hyderabad, not Pakistan". Alt News. 30 April 2023. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  4. "Reliance enters media by opening purse strings for Network18". The Indian Express. 4 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. Ashish K. Mishra, Inside the Network18 takeover, Livemint, 25 June 2014.
  6. Jha, Lata (23 January 2019). "Firstpost newspaper targeted at niche, discerning audiences". Mint. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  7. Menon, Meena (9 June 2013). "'Forbes India' editors sacked for demanding stock ownership". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  8. "Why Forbes' editors in India were sacked". Rediff. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  9. Aravind, Indulekha (16 November 2013). "No country for good journalists?". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  10. "Firstpost buys current affairs satire portal FakingNews.com". Hindustan Times. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  11. Dev, Atul (15 August 2015). "Why is Firstpost Being Asked to Refrain from Criticising Three Top Leaders from the BJP?". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  12. Sirur, Simrin; Bajpai, Shailaja; Choudhary, Ratnadeep (28 January 2019). "Making news — Zee's financial woes, Firstpost launch and BJP's WhatsApp 'fake news'". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  13. Jha, Lata (6 June 2019). "Network18 suspends publication of Firstpost newspaper". Mint. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  14. "About Firstpost - Firstpost". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  15. Srikanth, Swarna. "Palki Sharma's Vantage - Changing geopolitical landscape through the Indian lens". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  16. "Parineeti Chopra Removed As Beti Bachao Ambassador & Other News You Almost Believed". BOOM. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  17. Chaudhuri, Pooja (19 November 2020). "Indian army refutes PTI-led media reports of "pinpoint strikes" in PoK". Alt News. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  18. "Busting Fake News: No 'Say Namaste' app being launched". Imphal Free Press. 2020.
  19. वर्मा, अजय (23 April 2020). "NAMASTE नाम से सरकार ने लॉन्च नहीं किया है कोई वीडियो कॉन्फ्रेंसिंग एप, जानें सच्चाई". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  20. Alphonso, Anmol (14 September 2022). "Zee News, Firstpost Misreport Tomato Protest In Pak With False Shia-Sunni Spin". BOOM.
  21. "Media reports that Pakistan denied airspace to IAF aid plane to Turkey are false". Alt News. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  22. "The man who shared hoax tweet on Amartya Sen's 'death'". CNBCTV18. 10 October 2023.
  23. Majumder, Shinjinee (10 October 2023). "'News' of Amartya Sen's passing false, confirms Nobel Laureate's family". Alt News. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  24. "'Baba is totally fine': Amartya Sen's daughter denies rumours of his death". 10 October 2023.
  25. Varma, Aishwarya (18 April 2023). "Fact-check: Did Atiq Ahmed's Vote 'Save the Upa Govt' in the 2008 Trust Vote?". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  26. Bhattacharya, Oishani (23 February 2024). "BAPS Mandir inaugurated by Modi is not the first Hindu temple in UAE; false claim by govt amplified by media". Alt News. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  27. "Inside BAPS mandir, the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, to be inaugurated by PM Modi". Firstpost. 26 February 2024.
  28. "Sheikh Hasina accuses US of ousting her for refusing to surrender Saint Martin Island". 11 August 2024.
  29. Mehrotra, Khushi (15 August 2024). "Fact-Check: Sheikh Hasina Accused the USA of Ousting Her From Power? Son Denies Claim, Calls It "False"". TheQuint.
  30. Majumder, Shinjinee (27 November 2024). "Indian Media misreports deceased Bangladeshi advocate Saiful Islam as Chinmoy Krishna Das's lawyer". Alt News. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  31. Majumder, Shinjinee (24 April 2025). "Kashmir Terror Attack: Media outlets use screengrab from 2021 video, claim it shows terrorist from Pahalgam incident". Alt News. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
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