On 18th May (local time), a Norwegian “journalist”, Helle Lyng, went viral on social media after she claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “refused” to answer her questions on “human rights violations” in India. Helle Lyng, who is associated with a lesser-known media house, Dagsavisen, had only 800+ followers, and her social media handle on X was fairly dead, with the last post from April 2024, before she heckled PM Modi and proudly posted about it.
Within hours, Helle reached over 14,000 followers, and the opposition and left-liberals cheered her across X. Notably, the media house she is associated with has not posted on X since 22nd January this year. However, they are quite active on Facebook, where the video was posted. The publication has also published an article targeting India, suggesting that while India’s economy will soon secure 3rd place in the world, its democracy is “declining”.
The newspaper, which has been active since 1975, published a report by journalist Kenneth Lia Solberg on PM Modi’s Norway visit. In the report, initially, Solberg talked about how India is growing, but halfway through, the report took the path of criticising India’s democratic record under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his report, Solberg claimed that while India’s economy has grown rapidly, its democracy has weakened. He cited V Dem’s Liberal Democracy Index to claim that India’s democratic level has fallen to its lowest since 1950.
The report also criticised BJP’s dominance in Indian politics and “Hindutva politics”, calling Hindu nationalism “scary”. He argued that Muslims, who form around 15% of India’s population, have faced increasing discrimination, a fake claim that has been spearheaded by international and local anti-India actors since PM Modi took charge of the office for the first time in 2014.
He further argued that Norway should not ignore these concerns while signing trade agreements with India, even if such deals benefit both countries.
The report written by Solberg is on the same lines as Lyng’s questions. First of all, it was not a press briefing but a joint statement. Both the Indian and Norwegian Prime Ministers were not supposed to take questions. There was a panel of Ministry of External Affairs officials who took the questions later.
As PM Modi was leaving the podium after making the statement, she asked, “Prime Minister Modi, why don’t you take some questions from the freest press of the world?” PM Modi did not answer and walked away with his counterpart. This was exactly what Lyng was hoping for. She said, “Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question. I was not expecting him to.”
Primeminister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to.
Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates & Cuba.
It is our job to question the powers we cooperate… pic.twitter.com/vZHYZnAvev
— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) May 18, 2026
And just like that, a new “hero” for the Indian left-liberal gang was born in Norway. When we looked at her “following” list on X, some handles caught the eye, including The Wire, Shivangi Deshwal of The Wire, propagandist posing as journalist Rana Ayyub, and Laura Loomer, the infamous US-based anti-India journalist. In fact, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has shared the video. In a post on X, he wrote, “When there is nothing to hide, there is nothing to fear. What happens to India’s image when the world sees a compromised PM panic and run from a few questions?”
Sinsing the oppurtunity, she sought time from Gandhii for a telephonic interview.
Hello, would you be available for a phone interview Tuesday Norwegian time. It would be interesting to hear how you view the visit to Norway.
— Helle Lyng (@HelleLyngSvends) May 18, 2026
Ironically, the statement came from a leader whose only reply to uncomfortable questions is, “Are you a BJP-planted journalist?” In 2024, he almost got a journalist lynched for asking an uncomfortable question during his flagship politically motivated project, “Bharat Jodo Yatra”.
Apart from Gandhi, several other opposition leaders, propagandist YouTubers, fake historians, fake news peddlers and left-liberals jumped to support the Norwegian journalist as they were able to target PM Modi while doing so.
Rana Ayyub wrote, “Indian democracy on display as Prime Minister Modi visits Norway”.
Indian democracy on display as Prime Minister Modi visits Norway pic.twitter.com/QCYkP6gnj8
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) May 18, 2026
TMC MP Mahua Moitra said Norwegian media exposed what “GodiMedia” cannot, adding that Modi should learn the ways of free societies.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghose mocked PM Modi by saying, “No questions please. We are the Vishwaguru.”
Raju Parulekar said it reflects poorly on India that its PM cannot take questions from the world’s freest press.
Propagandist YouTuber Arpit Sharma called it an embarrassment for India and said PM Modi could not even answer international media.
Fake historian Dr Ruchika Sharma claimed PM Modi was “allergic to free press” and quickened his pace when the journalist asked a question.
Congress leader Srinivas BV mocked PM Modi in Hindi, saying he was asking for votes abroad but got embarrassed before the world.
Fake news peddler posing as YouTuber Dhruv Rathee called it “international bezzati” for Modi.
Propagandist posing as fact checker and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair mocked the incident by saying ANI will not be present everywhere.
When we checked Lyng’s authored articles on Muck Rack, we found that since January 2025, she has mentioned India only once in her articles when US President Trump threatened India with high tariffs. Furthermore, while her hate for Trump is visible in her reports, it seems she has a soft cornor for China. It is evident that her coverage has never been about India.
Suspected coordination with The Hindu
While Lyng hackled PM Modi, The Hindu journalist Suhasini Haider did the same with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Interestingly, while Suhasini shared Lyng’s video, Lyng did the same for Haider.
Questions over timing and sudden focus on India
When we looked at the previous reports published by the media house Lyng works for, and her own body of work, India did not appear to be a major area of focus. There were some routine reports related to India, including earthquakes, Donald Trump imposing tariffs on India, and similar developments, but deep analytical pieces on India, its democracy, or its internal political landscape were largely missing. This makes the sudden moral grandstanding over India’s democracy and press freedom look less like routine journalistic interest and more like a pointed intervention timed around PM Modi’s visit.
The pattern raises questions over whether the episode was organic or a planned attempt to create an anti-Modi and anti-India spectacle on foreign soil. The fact that Lyng tried to frame PM Modi’s refusal to answer a shouted question after a joint statement as a press freedom issue only adds to the suspicion that the objective was not to seek an answer, but to manufacture a viral moment that could be used to tarnish India’s image internationally.
Another interesting detail is Lyng’s X profile, which clearly states that she has been verified since May 2026. This means she purchased X Premium very recently. The timing is notable because verified accounts generally receive better visibility on X and also create an impression of authenticity before a wider audience. In this context, her newly acquired verification, the sudden viral push, and the enthusiastic amplification by India’s left-liberal ecosystem together make the entire episode look far more calculated than accidental.
When MEA schooled Helle Lyng
Indian Embassy in Norway quoted Lyng and informed her about press meet that was scheduled later that day. The Embassy wrote, “The Embassy is organizing a press briefing on the Prime Minister’s Visit this evening at 9:30pm at hotel Raddisson BluPlaza hotel. You are most welcome to come and ask your questions there.” Lyng was present at the press briefing and did what was expected from her.
During the briefing, she again tried to turn the interaction into a spectacle, this time in front of Indian officials. Introducing herself as a journalist from Dagsavisen, she asked why India should be trusted as Norway strengthens its partnership with New Delhi. She then clubbed it with loaded questions on alleged human rights violations and whether PM Modi would take “critical questions” from the Indian press.
However, instead of letting the question become another performative attack, Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Sibi George calmly took charge. When Lyng tried to interrupt him and demanded that he answer “straight away”, George firmly reminded her that she had asked a question and he had the right to answer it properly. “You asked me a question, let me answer it,” he said. As she continued to interrupt, George schooled her again, saying, “Please don’t interrupt me. You asked me a question. Please. This is my press conference.”
George then answered her first question, on why the world should trust India, by invoking India’s civilisational legacy and its contribution to humanity. “We are proud that we are a civilisational country of 5,000 years old. Continuous civilisation. Contributed immensely to the world,” he said, adding that concepts like zero, chess and yoga originated in India.
When Lyng again tried to force him to answer in her preferred format, George pushed back without losing his composure. “When to answer, where to answer, how to answer, these are my prerogatives. You asked a question. Don’t ask me to answer in a particular way. Let me answer,” he said. He then cited India’s conduct during Covid, saying India did not “hide in the cave” but came forward to help the world. “We supplied vaccines to more than 100 countries. That brings trust. We supplied medicines to 150 countries. That brings trust,” he said.
George also cited India’s role during its G20 presidency, pointing out that India brought a divided world together and secured the Delhi declaration. He also highlighted India’s efforts to bring the concerns of the Global South to the main table and the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20. “This brings trust to the table because we were able to get the aspirations and challenges of the entire African continent, which was ignored, brought to the main table of G20,” he said.
On human rights and democracy, George said India is based on a Constitution that guarantees justice, liberty, equality and dignity to its citizens. “India is the largest democracy in the world,” he said, adding that nearly one billion people participated in the last general elections. He said every citizen in India has fundamental rights and the right to approach courts if those rights are violated.
Taking a dig at those who form opinions on India through selective reports, George said many people have no understanding of India’s scale. “People read one or two news reports published by some godforsaken ignorant NGOs and then come and ask questions. Don’t worry about it. We are proud to be a democracy,” he said.
By the time George moved to India’s constitutional framework and democratic traditions, Lyng had reportedly left the room. In the end, her attempt to heckle Indian officials ended with a detailed, firm and unapologetic response from the MEA Secretary, who made it clear that India would not allow a loaded question to be passed off as journalism.
Conclusion
The entire episode shows how a routine diplomatic visit was turned into a manufactured controversy by a journalist whose recent work had hardly shown any serious focus on India. Lyng was not denied a chance to ask questions. She was publicly invited by the Indian Embassy to attend the press briefing, where she got the opportunity to ask whatever she wanted. However, instead of engaging seriously with the answers, she repeatedly interrupted Indian officials and tried to dictate how they should respond.
What followed exposed the hollowness of the viral outrage. PM Modi had not walked away from a press conference. He had left after a joint statement where questions were not scheduled. The actual press interaction happened later, and MEA Secretary Sibi George answered the same line of questioning in detail, from India’s democratic structure and constitutional guarantees to its global role during Covid, G20, Global South outreach, and support for the African Union.
Yet, the Indian left liberal ecosystem picked only the staged moment and used it to attack PM Modi and India. The sudden rise of Lyng’s profile, her recent X verification, her publication’s anti India framing, and the instant amplification by Congress leaders, TMC MPs, propagandists and fake news peddlers suggest that this was less about journalism and more about creating a viral anti India spectacle on foreign soil.
