Helle Lyng Svendsen

Helle Lyng Svendsen is a Norwegian journalist who works for the daily newspaper Dagsavisen. She is also known as Helle Lyng.

She became widely known in India in May 2026, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Norway. At a news conference with Norway’s prime minister she asked him why he did not take questions from “the freest press in the world”, and he walked out without answering, Al Jazeera reported. At a separate briefing she questioned Indian Foreign Ministry official Sibi George about human rights in India. She has said her aim was to challenge powerful leaders, including Modi, and that journalism is sometimes confrontational. She also reported online harassment alongside messages of support.

In November 2026 she said India’s Home Ministry had cancelled her visa on the eve of her flight to Hyderabad, where she was due to speak on press freedom at Congress’s Bharat Summit on 13 and 14 November, according to the Indian news site bhadas4media. Her account rests on her own posts, and no response from the ministry had been reported.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Newslaundry, bhadas4media.