We came across this image being shared on various social media channels:
As the post claims, Italy has just put a freemason in power. Giorgia Meloni, the woman involved in this claim is the President of Fratelli d’Italia (Fdl), also known as the Brothers of Italy, a populist party with roots in Italy’s post-war fascist movement. Fdl became the largest party in the 2022 Italian general election and as such, Meloni is expected to become Prime Minister of Italy.
The pendant she is purported to be wearing in the image is that of the square and compasses Masonic symbol, a highly associated symbol with Freemasonry that emphasizes connection and the link between Freemasons and architecture.
The claim is not a new one, with conspiracy theorists attempting to connect political leaders to secretive organizations such as the Freemasons or Illuminati. This claim is also frequently linked with the idea that there is a New World Order, a conspiracy that asserts the existence of a ploy by the power elite to orchestrate significant political and financial events on a global scale- to ultimately achieve global domination.
We’ve previously explored claims associated with the New World Order, finding no evidence to suggest any evidence of a secretive global order and subsequently debunked them.
So is the image real?
Back to the claim at hand, when we conducted a reverse image search, we found that the image had originally been published by Italian outlet Corriere della Sera in February 2016. The image does not include the Freemason symbol on the necklace in the original photograph.
As such, the claim that Giorgia Meloni was photographed wearing a Freemason symbol on her necklace is false. The image was digitally altered and part of a popular conspiracy theory that attempts to connect political leaders with secretive and powerful groups.