After her review was published on 15 September, Gafira Qadir, a freelance journalist and Pulitzer Center grantee who has covered stories on human rights and Kashmir for over six years, was targeted by troll networks known for their cyberharassment of journalists. The smear campaign included personal attacks, insults, accusations of terrorism and attempts to discredit her professionally. RSF documented at least 125 posts on the social media platform X in three days, with a peak of 58 posts in one day on 18 September. Most of the accounts behind these attacks had already been flagged by studies as spreading disinformation and harassment via hate speech. Others showed signs (random names, generic profile photos, posts at short intervals) characteristic of bots, automated accounts used, in this instance, to spread hateful messages or disinformation.

“RSF is alarmed by this online hate campaign against freelance journalist Gafira Qadir, a worrying new example of the harassment plaguing media professionals covering sensitive issues in Kashmir. We call on the Indian authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible for threatening and harassing the journalist, whether they are acting openly or through anonymous, orchestrated campaigns. Press freedom in India cannot be left at the mercy of troll networks. Social media platforms must also fully assume their role as moderators by preventing the targeted harassment and intimidation of journalists.

The 29-year-old journalist told RSF: "I woke up to an army of trolls. My X account was flooded with posts from Hindutva accounts. There was a post from a page called Lobby Watch accusing me of spreading ‘propaganda’, the usual insults. I was exhausted, overwhelmed… Then, in the afternoon, a deeply problematic article about me was published in OpIndia. These online campaigns were deeply personal and aimed at hurting my credibility.”

OpIndia is a Hindu nationalist website known for its repeated attacks on journalists critical of authorities. On 18 September, one of its editors published an article, shared 53 times on X, that sought to discredit Gafira Qadir, describing her as a “propagandist” with a “toxic mentality.” This article was systematically amplified by an established network of trolls, most of whom display automated behaviour that suggests they are bots, such as several simultaneous reposts on X between 5 and 6 a.m. Indian time.

Even more worrying, a new account on X joined the offensive on the same day. Named Lobby Watch, it has been active since August 2025 and claims to be a “fact-checking” account. According to RSF analysis content from this account was also found in identical posts published at the same time by at least seven other accounts presenting themselves as Kashmiri, also created in August 2025, whose sole activity is amplifying Lobby Watch's con. This content was then massively relayed on X by networks of trolls affiliated with the Hindu nationalist movement — Hindutva — and was shared at least 40 times, totalling nearly 37,000 views. One of these accounts is Stop Hindutva Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN), a troll affiliated with the Hindutva movement, which previously targeted another Kashmiri journalist.

A recurring problem in India, the online harassment of journalists on social media aims to intimidate and censor critical voices. Journalists who are women and from religious minorities are particularly targeted, such as Rana Ayyub, a columnist for the American daily Washington Post who was targeted by several cyberbullying campaigns in 2024, and The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani in May 2025.