The same browser also manually blocked access to certain sites advocating for better workplace conditions in China. In one case, they redirected certain GitHub repositories to 404 pages making it appear as though they didn't exist. (https://github.com/996icu/996.ICU/pull/24891, Translated Version)
In 2017, Opera released 4 different predatory loan apps on the Play Store. These apps falsely advertised statistics on their store pages and invaded on user's privacy, sometimes directly sending threatening texts to the user's contacts if payments were late. All of these apps were in direct violation of Google's Terms of Service and have since been removed. (https://hindenburgresearch.com/opera-phantom-of-the-turnaround/, https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/01/21/opera-predatory-loans/, https://www.ghacks.net/2020/01/19/what-is-going-on-at-opera-software/, https://www.engadget.com/2020-01-19-opera-accused-of-predatory-loan-apps.html, https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/opera-defends-its-android-apps-after-accusation-of-predatory-lending/)
All modern builds of Opera are forked from Chromium (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)), meaning most of the proclaimed performance benefits are negligible. While the resource limiting features of Opera GX may slightly improve performance of other running applications, it only really serves to slow down whatever sites you have open by taking away needed resources.
Opera is closed source, meaning we have no way of determining what's actually in the software without reverse-engineering.
Opera changes your default web browser while installing it with no obvious way of turning it off. (https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/j2j85x/decided_to_check_out_the_opera_browser_upon/)
Opera's VPN provider, SurfEasy resells "anonymized usage data for market research" as it's primary revenue stream. (https://web.archive.org/web/20170518204556/http://coxit.net/opera/img/presentations/Chris-Houston_SurfEasy_CMD_2017.pdf, https://cybernews.com/best-vpn/opera-vpn-review/, https://restoreprivacy.com/vpn/reviews/opera-vpn/, https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/is-opera-vpn-safe/#is-opera-vpn-safe-to-use)
The Opera GX Twitter X account is not your friend, social media managers have actual degrees and years put into study on what appeals people. (This isn't an excuse to harass or do some stupid shit like that to the Opera accounts and the people behind them, please don't harass them.)
Most of Opera's other "exclusive Features" are subjectively very gimmicky and pointless. The features that are actually useful can easily be obtained on other browsers using much more trustworthy extensions. For example, their builtin ad-blocking can be replaced by uBlock Origin, and their VPN (Which by the way, only redirects traffic away from your ISP and to Opera themselves.) can be replaced by any number of more trusted VPN providers, like Mullvad or ProtonVPN (Not sponsored by any of these). An Opera GX theme is available for Firefox, though if you really want a Chromium based browser, Vivaldi is made by the former CEO of Opera, and is pretty solid.
Archive
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://rentry.co/operagx (I archive this Rentry every time I update it.)
pastel belfry
tame rune
warm badge
mortal flame
elder citrus
now i can't use it anymore
