“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.—Voltaire” suddenly became the subject of “Quote of the Day” on several websites in 2012, even though Voltaire lived from 1694-1778. The quotation does not appear at all in the Google News Archive. There is no evidence for the quotation in any of Voltaire’s writings. The author is probably Kevin Strom, who wrote in National Vanguard on August 14, 1993:
 
“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?”
 
Several website forums have contributors, posting from 2010 and slightly earlier, who have added the “Voltaire” quotation to their posts. However, the early 2000s dates might not be accurate and the quotation might have been recently added to the signature of these old posts. The blog Ex Cathedra has the quote in a left-hand column and calls it “Voltaire’s Razor” (after “Occam’s razor”).
 
   
Wikipedia: Kevin Alfred Strom 
Kevin Alfred Strom (born 1956 in Anchorage, Alaska) is the former Managing Director of National Vanguard. Strom resigned from National Vanguard in July 2006. In 2008 Strom pleaded guilty to possession of ten images of child pornography and was sentenced to 23 months in prison.
 
Wikipedia: Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃.swa ma.ʁi aʁ.wɛ]; 21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire (pronounced: [vɔl.tɛːʁ]), was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, free trade and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poetry, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws with harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.
   
National Vanguard
All America Must Know the Terror That is Upon Us
by Kevin Alfred Strom
American Dissident Voices
August 14, 1993
(...)
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? We all know who it is that we are not permitted to criticize. We all know who it is that it is a sin to criticize. Sodomy is no longer a sin in America. Treason, and burning and spitting and urinating on the American flag is no longer a sin in America. Gross desecration of Catholic or Protestant religious symbols is no longer a sin in America. Cop-killing is no longer a sin in America - it is celebrated in rap “music.” The degradation of beautiful young girls in disgusting pornography is no longer a sin in America. The killing by the multiple millions of the next generation in the womb is no longer a sin in America. But anti-semitism is the ultimate sin in America. But as things get worse and worse, we are losing our fear of this silly word. We all know who it is that controls the wealth of our nation through their exchanges and counting-houses in New York. We all know who it is that has deformed the minds of two generations of Americans with their television programs.
         
Google Groups: soc.culture.israel
Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize? 
SITALCES X
May 8, 1999, 3:00:00 AM
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? We all know who it is that we are not permitted to criticize. We all know who it is that
it is a sin to criticize. Sodomy is no longer a sin in America. Treason, and burning and spitting and urinating on the American flag is no longer a sin in America. Gross desecration of Catholic or Protestant religious symbols is no longer a sin in America. Cop-killing is no longer a sin in America - it is celebrated in rap “music.” The degradation of beautiful young girls in disgusting pornography is no longer a sin in America. The killing by the multiple millions of the next generation in the womb is no longer a sin in America. But “anti-semitism” is the ultimate sin in America.
 
MiniatureHorseTalk.com
Susanne
Posted 02 May 2007 - 02:28 PM
(...)
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” — Voltaire
   
KevinAlfredStrom.com
January 22nd, 2009
I’m Often Misquoted
I’M OFTEN MISQUOTED: Two quotes of mine are often given incorrectly, the first because of imprecise remembrance of a memorable idea, and the second because of a purposely or inadvertently sloppy journalist reporting on my historic trial.
 
The first is my maxim on the rulers of society, which exists online and in print in a dozen different variations, some of them probably more elegant than my original.
 
What I said was: “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?”
 
Hua Hin Forum
Legend
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:02 pm  
(...)
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”—Voltaire
 
Hua Hin Forum
MrPlum
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:02 pm
(...)
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”—Voltaire
       
Twitter
Mark H. Simon
@markhsimon
To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
12:16 PM · May 14, 2012·Twitter for BlackBerry®