Video of Italian Prime Minister saying Sharia law won’t…

A ten-second video circulating on social media platforms like X and Facebook falsely depicts Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaking in English to claim that Sharia law will not be implemented in Italy. Investigation confirms that the footage is an AI-generated deepfake and the Prime Minister never made these specific comments.

What happened

The video, which gained thousands of likes, utilizes a still photograph of Ms. Meloni taken during a January press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Rome. By analyzing the original press conference footage, researchers identified that the image used as the base for the deepfake shows Ms. Meloni while Mr. Merz was the one speaking. The original footage confirms that Ms. Meloni did not speak in English at any point during that event, nor was Sharia law mentioned in the official transcript of the summit.

Several technical indicators reveal the fabrication. The AI-generated video features a voice that differs from Ms. Meloni’s genuine English-speaking tone. Furthermore, visual inconsistencies—such as the shape of her earrings—differ from the original source material. The video also features a 'Grok' watermark, the AI chatbot integrated with X, in the corner of the frame. While the Prime Minister has previously expressed views on the compatibility of certain cultural interpretations with European values in genuine clips, this specific viral video is a synthesis created using artificial intelligence.