Countless internet memes, valedictory speeches, and 'inspiring quotes' collections, have mistakenly saddled Voltaire with the supposed 'quote' despite there being no record of the famed philosopher having ever uttered them. The phrase is more likely the work of Kevin Alfred Strom, a white supremacist and Holocaust-denier jailed for possessing child pornography. It appears to be an abridged version of an excerpt from Strom's 1993 essay, "All America must know the terror that is upon us", in which he rallied against modern society, Communism, homosexuality, desegregation, Jews and the UN. "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 criticise?" the text reads.

But sourcing the original text proves difficult. Most online referencing of the phrase links to a Strom supporter online message board. The 'quote's' sentiments align neatly with Voltaire's own distrust of untested, boundless authority, which could in part explain why the misattribution has flourished. Senator Bernardi's mistake spawned a trend on Twitter, with many users jokingly giving Voltaire credit for other famous quotes such as Sir Mixalot's "I like big butts and I cannot lie", "You're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws, and even Tony Abbott's "You bet you are, you bet I am". As of Friday afternoon, he had not responded to the online furore.

The 'who rules over you?' quote is not the only idiom wrongly attributed to the philosopher. The infamous 'Voltairism': "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," does not appear in any of Voltaire's works. Again the quote captures the spirit of Voltaire's work, which is exactly what its rightful author intended. English writer Beatrice Evelyn Hall, using the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre penned the phrase in in a 1906 biography called The Friends of Voltaire. On Friday evening Bernardi retweeted a tweet quoting another infamous idiom, this time by Ancient Greek philosopher, Plato: "Courage is knowing what not to fear".

The tweet misspelt Plato, attributing the quote to 'Playto'. Fairfax Media is attempting to contact Mr Bernardi's office for comment.