A video of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni apparently saying, “I will not allow Islamic law to be enforced in Italy” has gone viral. But it’s a deepfake.
The 10-second clip, which has received thousands of likes on X and has been shared on Facebook, shows Meloni speaking in English from a podium.
In the video, she appears to say, “I will not allow Islamic law to be enforced in Italy. I am Giorgia Meloni. I am a Christian. I am a daughter of Italy.”
However, this video is not real and Ms. Meloni did not make these comments. The video has been modified using artificial intelligence (AI).
How do we know it’s a deepfake?
Using a reverse image search tool, we traced the first frame of the clip to a photo published by the European Press and Photo Agency. The photo was accompanied by a caption that said it was taken at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome in January of this year.
They analyzed the entire recording of the press conference held after the Italian-German government summit and identified areas where Meloni’s posture and facial expressions matched those in the images.
However, it is Mertz who is speaking in the exchange, not Meloni, as seen in a video that has gone viral.
A review of the footage showed that Meloni did not speak English at any point during the press conference, and there was no mention of “Sharia” in the YouTube transcript of the leaders’ comments.
Additionally, Meloni’s voice in the shared video appears different from the real footage of her speaking English. In the right corner of this video, you can see an overlaid watermark from “Grok”, an AI chatbot integrated with X.
The video is an AI-generated deepfake, likely created from a still image of Meloni. Another clue supporting this is that her earrings have a different shape in the video than they do in real life.
However, authentic footage exists of Ms. Meloni discussing Sharia law and saying she believed there was a problem of “compatibility” between “certain interpretations” of Islamic culture and “the rights and values of our civilization.”
We have previously debunked other deepfake videos of politicians, including Sir Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage, US President Donald Trump, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
It’s important to consider whether the information you see on social media comes from verifiable and trustworthy sources before you share it. Our Full Fact toolkit and guide to identifying AI-generated images and videos can help you do this.
