Comments by broadcaster Peppi Azzopardi which have been manipulated to mean the direct opposite have shown up in political advertising on TVM.

The advert shows Azzopardi apparently agreeing with the far-right candidate for the European Parliament elections.

But Azzopardi in a Facebook post said that nothing could be further from the truth and his comments had been extracted from an interview where he was explaining how some people could be mistakenly backing Lowell.

He said people had been phoning him, incredulous at how he could agree with Lowell.

This advert was being broadcast on TVM, he said, leading him to wonder what had become of the Broadcasting Authority and whether it was backing Lowell.

In a response the BA said it did not fall foul of the law.

"As per Article 13 (4) of the Broadcasting Act, the Authority organizes a scheme of political broadcasts which consists of a number of debates and political spots and this political advert in question falls under this scheme," it said.

"The Authority scrutinize the material to ensure that there is no breach of Chapter 350 and the related Subsidiary Legislation," it said.