A clip of an online chat group recently went viral on social media, showing its members discussing the media strategy for the opposition ecosystem’s ongoing regime change campaign against the Modi government. The footage includes the allegedly neutral Internet Freedom Foundation’s Founder Trustee, Apar Gupta. Interestingly, IFF has CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka’s sister, Khushboo Ranka, as a Trustee.
The clip was shared by the office of fact-checker Vijay Gajera on X. In the viral clip, a participant is heard discussing strategy for dealing with the challenges that he claimed were being faced by the opposition ecosystem.
During the discussion, the person reveals that about 5000 influencers, YouTubers, and content creators form part of the opposition ecosystem. The individual also says that “independent journalists” are part of their team.
The clip exposes how the opposition ecosystem has set up an entire army to push their narrative. While the opposition has been trying to package its recent regime change efforts against the Modi government as an organic movement, their entire campaign has repeatedly been exposed as being built on manufactured outrage peddled by their propaganda accounts and self-proclaimed journalists.
BIG EXPOSE: Congress has 5000 paid content creators to spread fake propaganda. More seriously, Apar Gupta from IFF is helping Congress when the government takes corrective action against fake news. IFF doesn’t check whether those content creators spread fake news. IFF claims that they are neutral, but look how coordinated they are working with Congress.
— Office Of Vijay Patel (@VijayGajeraO) October 16, 2026
Moreover, another thing that stood out in the viral video clip was the presence of lawyer and Internet Freedom Foundation‘s Founder Trustee, Apar Gupta, in the online chat. Notably, IFF, which masquerades as a neutral platform, was among the voices that opposed the social media guidelines issued by the Modi government to make big tech companies accountable to Indian users and law enforcement, as well as provide users a clearer complaint process.
As mentioned, Ashutosh Ranka’s sister is also a significant member of the group. The co-conveners of CJP, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, have been apprehended for unlawfully entering the denotified protest site Jantar Mantar after the CJP leaders, including Abhijeet Dipke, submitted a surety bond pledging to “maintain peace” and demonstrate “good behaviour” for a year to secure bail following their 10th October detention.
A concerted effort has been clearly underway to destabilise the government disguised as a protest on unfounded allegations against the Chief Election Commissioner and the centre.
The viral clip comes after fact-checker Vishal Maheshwari recently exposed how “independent journalists” have been covering the recent demonstrations to peddle opposition propaganda in the guise of impartial reporting. Maheshwari conducted a sting operation on several of these independent journalists using a fake Email ID.
Maheshwari approached them with a proposal to create Instagram videos for the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The so-called independent journalists replied to the proposal with work samples and quoted their prices for producing propaganda content.
