Italian PM Meloni's video message on her birthday falsely linked with Ram temple inauguration

By: Annet Preethi Furtado
January 22 2024

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Screenshots of the claim that Italian PM Giorgia Meloni posted a message for Hindus ahead of the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What's the claim?

A 12-second clip of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is going viral on social media with the claim she wished Hindus in India ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. 

In the clip, Meloni speaks in Italian and concludes by blowing a kiss. A user captioned the video on X as, "Italian PM Giorgia Meloni Message to Hindus for Ram Mandir #RamMandirPranPratishta." Additionally, the user provided a "Translation," stating, ''Best wishes to the Hindus in India and around the world on the Pran Pratistha ceremony. By restoring your prestige after hundreds of years of struggle, you have set an example for the world. Lots of love." This post had garnered over 99,000 views at the time of publishing. Archived versions of such posts, some of which had garnered hundreds of thousands of views,  can be found here, here, and here. The Italian Prime Minister celebrated her 47th birthday on January 15.

Screenshots of claims made online. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video features Italian PM Meloni thanking people for the birthday wishes she received. It has nothing to do with the temple inauguration ceremony that took place on January 22.

What did we find?

Even though the video was in Italian, it did not include any references or words such as "Ayodhya," "Ram Mandir," "Hindus," or "India." Additionally, no relevant news reports confirmed that Meloni had released any statement or video about the Ram temple ceremony.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that Meloni had uploaded the exact video on Instagram on January 15, with an Italian caption translating to ''Thank you. You are my strength!'' 

(Source: Instagram)

The video was also shared on PM Meloni's official X account the same day and was accompanied by an Italian caption similar to her Instagram post. 

Using Escriba, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool for audio dubbing, we found that in the video, PM Meloni expressed gratitude for the birthday wishes she received through private messages and social media posts. She acknowledged receiving a lot of encouragement, which she expressed she treasured. Meloni conveyed that the support received is her strength and expressed love towards those who extended their wishes.

The Italian Prime Minister celebrated her 47th birthday on January 15.

An Italian speaker translated the viral clip for Logically Facts and confirmed that Meloni's said, "Thank you everybody for the birthday wishes— that you sent privately, through social media posts— really a lot of encouragement which I will treasure, you're my strength, I love you!"

The verdict

The video featuring Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has been inaccurately translated. Contrary to viral claims that she sent a message to Hindus on the occasion of the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, the video depicts her expressing gratitude for the birthday wishes and messages she received. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.