Fact Check-No evidence World Economic Forum chairman said internet must be reformed
A screenshot purportedly showing a tweet from the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Twitter account, in which chairman Klaus Schwab says internet reform will be part of the Great Reset, has been digitally altered. There is no evidence Schwab ever made the comment attributed to him. The Great Reset is an economic plan proposed by the WEF that is at the center of widespread conspiracy theories.
The text in the fake tweet reads: “The internet must be reformed, there is too much misinformation out there. This will be the next step for the Great Reset, says Klaus Schawb [sic].”
A picture of the false tweet was uploaded to Facebook on March 24, 2022, by an account named Libertarian Candidates ( here ) that has over 145,000 followers.
The Facebook post, which has amassed more than 1,000 shares and 1,400 reactions, reads: “Too many dangerous ideas out there that they don’t like, they must be stopped…”
Examples of the screenshot can be found elsewhere on Facebook ( here ), ( here ), ( here ) and ( here ) and Twitter ( here ). It was also quote tweeted by a British TV presenter ( here ) with a verified Twitter account with over 450,000 followers.
However, there is no evidence the tweet was ever posted on the verified World Economic Forum (WEF) Twitter account.
Searching for the tweet verbatim on Twitter produced no results ( bit.ly/38cpEP3 ) and an advanced Twitter search using the words “Klaus,” “Schawb” (as it is spelt in the fake tweet), “Great” and “Reset,” plus the precise phrase “Klaus Schawb,” also produced no results ( bit.ly/3uzZ8qb ).
Likewise, a Google search by Reuters using the exact phrase found no evidence of Klaus Schwab saying these words ( bit.ly/3qJvI7P ). Results include meme pages, but no official news coverage.
Correcting the spelling to “Schwab” also produced no evidence of the quote being shared officially by Schwab or the WEF on Twitter (verbatim search bit.ly/3JMOId3and advanced search bit.ly/3qIuYQs) or on Google ( bit.ly/3889eqN ).
The WEF did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The earliest example Reuters found of the screenshot appearing online, following a separate advanced Google search ( bit.ly/3iKh5wA ), can be seen on the meme-sharing platform, iFunny ( here ). Right clicking the screen to view the webpage’s source shows the page was created on March 24, 2022.
The image used in the screenshot appears to date back to Sept. 11, 2018 ( here ).
VERDICT
False. There is no evidence that the World Economic Forum ever tweeted this or of Klaus Schwab ever saying the quote attributed to him.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
