A US-based reputation management firm, which received funding from the United States government, is working to combat opposition to pesticides and genetically modified (GM) crops by secretly profiling critics, both across the world and in India. This is revealed in documents obtained by the investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and shared with The Wire and other international media partners.

The firm spearheading this work is Missouri-based v-Fluence Interactive, founded and run by a former Monsanto executive, Jay Byrne, who previously worked as a communications executive at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Since its creation in 2001, v-Fluence has provided a range of services including "in depth research, ongoing intelligence gathering, proprietary data-mining and analytics" to the global agrochemical and biotechnology industry.

The current investigation by Lighthouse Reports, in partnership with The Wire, uncovered that v-Fluence created a private social network that hosts profiles of over 500 individuals globally, including prominent Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva, ecologist Debal Deb and other individuals including scientists and academics. 

Access to the network is invite-only. Its members include agrochemical and biotechnology industry employees and allies from around the world, including India. This has raised concerns among some Indians profiled by v-Fluence about how their data might be used, highlighting potential risks to privacy. 

Scientists also remarked how "critically profiling" activists and scientists is detrimental to scientific temper in a democracy like India, especially at a time when there is 'general hostility' towards civil service organisations. 

In an email statement to Lighthouse Reports, v-Fluence founder Byrne said that the allegations of his network secretly profiling individuals who have spoken out against pesticides and their unregulated use are "grossly misleading representations" and "manufactured falsehoods". v-Fluence also denied having held government contracts now or in the past, but said that the US government was a "funder of other organisations with whom we work."