The claim

The following quote is doing the rounds as a sharepic: “To understand who is controlling you, you just have to discover who you are not allowed to criticize.” or “If you want to know who is controlling you, find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” (François-Marie “Voltaire” Arouet )

Our conclusion

No, the quote did not come from François-Marie “Voltaire” Arouet, but from an American neo-Nazi.

A false quote is currently being attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire.

One that is currently being spread actually comes from a neo-Nazi in the USA. It is currently this sharepic

Quote is not from Voltaire
Screenshot: Facebook / March 2023

The colleagues from Correctiv and the AFP have already checked this quote and have come to the conclusion that it is a fake, because the saying originally comes from an essay by a neo-Nazi from 1993.

The saying was originally in English. There are two versions:

  1. “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
  2. “To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?”

Birgit Mikus, head of department at the Voltaire Foundation at Oxford University, confirmed the following to Correctiv:

“The quote is actually incorrectly attributed to Voltaire, and it appears that it was actually written by Kevin Alfred Strom in 1993.” Mikus points to a post by director Nicholas Cronk on the institute’s blog from 2017

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

The AFP in turn contacted Kevin Alfred Strom, who responded with the following:

“The quote is mine. I first published it in a National Alliance publication in 1993." He said he didn't know who first attributed it to Voltaire, but it seemed to have happened around 2007.

Conclusion : There is no evidence that the quote was uttered in this or a similar manner by François-Marie “Voltaire” Arouet. The Voltaire Foundation, which published the philosopher's complete works in 200 volumes, confirmed this to Correctiv. It was also pointed out that the quote was attributed to the US neo-Nazi Kevin Alfred Strom. This in turn confirmed to AFP, the author himself.

Sources:

Fact check CORRECTIV
Fact check AFP

In keeping with the topic: True and false quotes from politicians

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