On January 28, the Reporters’ Collective, a group heavily funded by foreign entities linked to George Soros, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the Modi government had revoked its non-profit status. This comes after the controversial group was caught peddling fabricated data to discredit India’s poverty reduction efforts.

The so-called "journalist collective," which has operated as a non-profit trust since July 2021, claimed, "But now the tax authorities have cancelled our non-profit status, claiming journalism does not serve any public purpose and therefore cannot be carried out as a non-profit exercise in India." However, the reality is far from the victim narrative they are trying to push. This is not an attack on journalism but a justified action against agenda-driven misinformation campaigns masquerading as journalism.

The revocation follows the Reporters’ Collective’s attempt in December 2024 to spread falsehoods about India’s poverty statistics. The group accused the Modi government of rigging data to manufacture an illusion of decreasing poverty in the country. However, their claims collapsed under scrutiny, as the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was not a government-manipulated invention but developed in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Rather than admitting their intellectual dishonesty, the Collective resorted to malicious distortion of facts to undermine India’s progress. The reality is that India's poverty reduction is globally recognized, with independent international institutions acknowledging the country’s efforts in uplifting millions from poverty.

The revocation of the Collective’s non-profit status is a step towards dismantling foreign-funded propaganda outfits that operate under the garb of "independent journalism" while deliberately pushing anti-India narratives. The group’s lament that "The order cancelling our non-profit status severely impairs our ability to do our work and worsens the conditions for independent public-purposed journalism in the country" is nothing more than a desperate attempt to regain legitimacy.

Their claim that they are "seeking legal remedies to protect the idea of journalism as a public good" is simply another ploy to evade accountability. Journalism is meant to inform, not mislead, and India has no obligation to provide tax benefits to foreign-backed groups engaged in systematic misinformation campaigns.

It is well-documented that George Soros has funded several organizations globally that seek to destabilize elected governments under the pretext of defending democracy. His funding network, including Open Society Foundations, has often been linked to attempts at manipulating public opinion in sovereign nations.

This move by the Modi government is not about suppressing press freedom, but rather about ensuring that India’s media landscape is not hijacked by foreign interests with vested agendas. Genuine journalism thrives in India, with thousands of independent media houses and reporters actively covering issues across the spectrum. What is not welcome, however, is a foreign-funded misinformation syndicate masquerading as a journalist group.

By revoking their non-profit status, India has sent a strong message—fake news peddlers with external funding will no longer get the privilege of tax exemptions under the guise of journalism.

Lies Peddled by Reporters’ Collective

On December 18, 2024, the Reporters’ Collective published a report alleging that the Narendra Modi government had manipulated a "Homemade Poverty Index" to falsely depict a significant reduction in poverty in India. The report claimed that the government's assertion of lifting 250 million people out of poverty over a decade was misleading, attributing this to the addition of two specific parameters to the global index.

The Collective further alleged that, unable to influence international agencies that publish global rankings, the Modi government created its own index and rigged the results to present favorable outcomes. However, the report failed to provide concrete evidence to substantiate these claims, relying instead on vague assertions.

It's important to note that the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index was developed by the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Reporters’ Collective's own report acknowledged that NITI Aayog, responsible for creating India's Multidimensional Poverty Index, collaborated with OPHI and UNDP in its development. This partnership indicates that the additions to the Indian index were made with the agreement of the creators of the global index. Despite this, the Reporters’ Collective labeled the data as 'rigged', a stance that appears to lack a factual basis.

The Reporters’ Collective's allegations not only lack substantiation but also undermine the collaborative efforts between Indian institutions and reputable international organizations aimed at accurately measuring and addressing poverty. Such unfounded claims can mislead the public and detract from the genuine progress being made in poverty alleviation.

In light of these considerations, it is evident that the Reporters’ Collective's report is based on unverified assertions and fails to acknowledge the legitimacy of India's collaborative approach to measuring poverty. This raises questions about the credibility of the Collective and its commitment to accurate and responsible journalism.