Fabricated screenshot peddled as Maldivian President’s apology to Indians on X

What is the claim?

Amid the escalating diplomatic row between India and the Maldives, a screenshot claiming that Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu posted an apology on X (formerly Twitter) to Indians and later deleted his post is circulating widely on social media. 

The viral screenshot allegedly posted on January 7 reads, "I apologise to our Indian friends with folded hands on behalf of our ministers and their irresponsible comments about Prime minister Narendra Modi. Looking forward to welcoming friends from India and strengthening bilateral relations between our nations (sic).” The screenshot also carries text claiming that the post has been deleted. 

This purported apology by Muizzu comes within days of Maldivian ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Sharif, and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid making disparaging comments on social media about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his recent visit to the union territory of Lakshadweep.

Social media user Rishi Bagree, known for regularly sharing controversial posts rife with misinformation, shared the purported screenshot by Muizzu on January 8, 2024, and wrote, “Maldives Pres tenders an unconditional Apology with an Folded Hand (sic).” The X post had gained over 2,13,000 views and 4,500 likes at the time of publishing. 

Screenshots of the viral posts of X. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

A few other users also shared the screenshot of Muizzu’s purported deleted post. Archived versions of the posts can be accessed here, here and here.

However, the screenshot is fake. The Maldivian President has not posted any such apology on social media.

What did we find?

We noted that the purported screenshot used the same username, profile picture, and handle as Muizzu’s real X account. We then reviewed Muizzu’s official account and found that the last post from the account was shared on January 5. 

Furthermore, we checked the social media analytics tool Social Blade to see if any posts had been deleted from Muizzu’s account on the mentioned date. According to the statistics, no post has been deleted from Muizzu’s handle since December 24, 2023. 

The (+) and (-) signs under the followers and following columns in the image indicate gained/lost numbers. Similarly, the signs under the 'Tweets' column shows the number of posts made/deleted. 

(Source: Social Blade)

We also checked the archived version of Muizzu’s X profile on Wayback Machine and found no such tweet. 

Has the President of Maldives apologized?

Since the diplomatic tensions broke out between the two nations, the Indian High Commission in Maldives has expressed concern over the disrespectful remarks against PM Modi by the members of the government of Maldives.

In a statement on January 7, the Maldivian Foreign Minister said, “These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the government of Maldives.” All government officials involved have been suspended from their posts, a spokesperson for President Mohamed Muizzu's office told the BBC. Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer also called the remarks against foreign leaders “unacceptable.”

It should be noted that following the controversial comments by the Maldivian politicians, calls to boycott Maldives tourism have been trending on social media platforms. The remarks have also provoked Indian celebrities to take to social media and begin a campaign to urge people on X to explore Indian tourist destinations instead of going to the Maldives. While several other Maldivian personalities, including the former president Ibrahim Solih, have issued statements condemning the use of such language against India and Modi, there are no reports of an apology from the current Maldives government or the president of the nation, contrary to the viral claim.

The verdict

The post in the viral screenshot is fake and has been created using editing tools. The President of Maldives did not post or delete any apology for the controversial remarks made by ministers from his government against the Indian Prime Minister. 

(Correction: The fact-check has been updated to remove the reference that the viral schreenshot had inconsistencies with respect to the time tile. Error is regretted.)