Fake quote attributed to Swedish minister spreads as anti-feminist claim internationally

A fabricated quote falsely attributed to Sweden’s climate minister Romina Pourmokhtari has gone viral online, amassing over a million views after being presented as an attack on Western feminists by an Iranian woman, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports.

The misleading post, shared widely on X (formerly Twitter), claims an Iranian woman in Sweden stated: “Pedophilia is legal in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Little girls are married off to adult men. We try to spread awareness of this, but Western feminists completely ignore us.” The video accompanying the post actually shows Pourmokhtari, who was not discussing feminism or Iran.

SVT’s verification team traced the original context of the clip, confirming Pourmokhtari’s remarks were unrelated to the fabricated quote. The broadcaster’s analysis also mapped how the misinformation spread across social media platforms.

The false claim follows a pattern of manipulated content targeting Swedish political figures, according to SVT’s investigative unit, which combines digital forensics with traditional journalism to debunk viral disinformation.