Fact check: No connection between Ukrainian app and World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’

The claim: Ukraine announced it’s the first country to implement the ‘Great Reset’ through a mobile app

The World Economic Forum – an international nonprofit organization meant to help shape global agendas – introduced an initiative in June 2020 to reform social and economic systems worldwide due to COVID-19’s effects on societies, dubbed the “Great Reset.”

Social media users online claim Ukraine fast-tracked the organization’s plan.

“Ukraine just silently announced it’s the first country to implement the WEF’s ‘Great Reset’ by setting up a Social Credit Application combining Universal Basic Income (UBI), a Digital Identity & a Vaccine Passport all within their Diia app,” reads text from an Instagram post shared March 18.

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The post generated over 1,000 likes in less than a week. Similar posts have amassed hundreds of interactions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

But the claim is false. A spokesperson for the World Economic Forum said the app is not tied to the “Great Reset.” Ukrainian officials have made no such announcement, either.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.

Mobile app not linked to ‘Great Reset’

The claim is baseless, Amanda Russo, spokesperson for the World Economic Forum, told USA TODAY in an email.

USA TODAY found no press releases on Ukraine’s official website or the World Economic Forum’s newsroom about the app’s ties to the “Great Reset.” 

The app also predates the announcement of the economic forum program.

The brand and the concept of the app were presented in Kyiv in September 2019, according to Ukrinform. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the launch of Diia on Feb. 6, 2020 – four months before the “Great Reset” was introduced, according to the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency.  

The claim builds on the baseless Great Reset conspiracy theory alleging global elites manufactured COVID-19 to advance their interests and establish a one-world government by limiting individual freedoms. 

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The post is also wrong about what features are included in the Diia app.

The Diia app allows Ukrainians to upload identifying documents such as driver’s licenses and passports. The Ministry of Digital Transformation issued a press release Sept. 24, 2021, stating that international vaccine passports could also be generated on the app.

It is not a “social credit application.” China introduced the idea of a social credit system  –  a “set of databases” that assess the “trustworthiness of individuals, companies and government entities” – in 2014, according to the South China Morning Post.

USA TODAY found no evidence of this system on the app or in Ukraine.

“Universal basic income” – a program in which families receive regular payments from the government – is not part of the app either. Ukraine does not have any such program as of 2022, according to the World Population Review. 

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Independent fact-checking organizations have also debunked this claim.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Ukraine announced it’s the first country to implement the “Great Reset” through a mobile app. There are no ties between the Diia app and the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset.” The app was also introduced before the international initiative.

Our fact-check sources:

• Amanda Russo, March 29, Email exchange with USA TODAY
• Full Fact, March 25, Ukraine is not enacting the ‘Great Reset’ with an app
• World Economic Forum, accessed March 29, The Great Reset
• Business Insider, Dec. 24, 2021, China’s ‘social credit’ system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, accessed March 29, DIGITAL COUNTRY
• BBC News, June 24, 2021, What is the Great Reset – and how did it get hijacked by conspiracy theories?
• World Economic Forum, June 3, 2020, Now is the time for a ‘great reset’
• Ukrainian Independent Information Agency, June 2, 2020, Ukraine launches Diia app, opening access to wide range of gov’t services online
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Sept. 24, 2021, Ministry of Digital Transformation: International COVID certificates can be generated in Diia app
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, March 10, The pros and cons of universal basic income
• World Population Review, accessed March 29, Countries That Have Tried Universal Basic Income 2022
• South China Morning Post, Aug. 9, 2020, What is China’s social credit system and why is it controversial?
• Ukrinform, accessed March 29, Number of Diia app users has grown almost five-fold over year

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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.