Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by

Network18 Group Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief, a ...

, which also runs

CNN-News18 CNN News18 is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides international coverage for the ...

and

CNBC TV18 CNBC TV18 is an Indian pay television business and financial news channel operated as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and Network18 Group. History The network has its origins in ABNi, an Indian sub-feed of the Dow Jones-led Asia Bu ...

. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by

Raghav Bahl Raghav Bahl is an Indian businessman, a serial entrepreneur, and an investor best known for his past ownership of several television channels, including TV18 India. He was the Founding/Controlling shareholder & managing director of Network18 Gr ...

. In January 2012, the group received an investment from

Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire and businessman who is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries. As of May 2025, he is the richest person in Asia and The World's Billionaires, 13th richest ...

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the ...

through a rights issue of up to .

History

Firstpost began in 2011 as an online news portal of Network18. In May 2013, the news group was merged with the Indian edition of ''

Forbes India ''Forbes India'' is the Indian edition of ''Forbes'', which is managed by the Reliance Industries-owned media conglomerate, Network 18. History and profile Since its founding in 2008, ''Forbes India'' has achieved a circulation of 50,000 copies ...

'' whose four top editorial heads, including editor in chief Indrajit Gupta, were dismissed. The event led to a media furor. Thereafter on 31 May 2013, Firstpost took over a satirical website Fakingnews.com for an undisclosed amount. According to Scroll.in, "Network18, with its online outlet ''FirstPost'', famously lost its primetime anchors in 2014 because of a

diktat A diktat (, ) is a statute, harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor, or a dogmatic decree. The term has acquired a pejorative sense, to describe a set of rules dictated by a foreign power or an unpopular local power ...

against criticising Modi." In 2015, ''

The Caravan ''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. It was initially launched in 1940 by Vishwa Nath, becoming a prominent monthly magazine before ceasing publication in 1988. T ...

'' reported on censorship in Firstpost over criticism of political leaders such as

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...

. In January 2019, a weekly English-language print edition of ''Firstpost'' began, and then ended in June 2019, with publication of ''Firstpost'' continuing online. As of April 2020, Jaideep Giridhar is the executive editor of ''Firstpost'' in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, while Sanjay Singh is the deputy executive editor. On 26 January 2023, the prime-time show ''Vantage'' was launched, hosted by managing editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay, formerly of

WION WION (World is One News) is an Indian English language news channel headquartered in Noida, India. WION is owned by the Essel Group and is a part of the Zee Media network of channels, whose majority owner is Subhash Chandra and family. As o ...

. 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. In 2023, it falsely reported that Atiq Ahmed's vote had 'saved' the United Progressive Alliance government in 2008. In 2025, it passed off an unrelated image from a 2021 video as being that of the perpetrator of the

2025 Pahalgam attack The 2025 Pahalgam attack was a terrorist attack on tourists by five armed terrorists near Pahalgam in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed on 22 April 2025. The militants mainly targeted Hindu tourists, t ...

References

External links

* {{Media of India 2011 establishments in Maharashtra Conservatism in India Conservative websites Godi media Indian news websites Internet properties established in 2011 Mass media in Mumbai Network18 Group New media Right-wing politics in India