Did the World Economic Forum (WEF) call on governments to establish "COVID concentration camps" globally for individuals who do not comply with the "official narrative" related to COVID-19? No, that's not true: A WEF representative called it, "fake news." There is no credible information supporting these claims.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by The People's Voice on September 17, 2023, titled "WEF Calls for 'COVID Concentration Camps' To Jail Refuseniks Who Question Official Narrative." The story opens:
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has urged governments to build COVID concentration camps worldwide to jail citizens who refuse to go along with the official narrative.
This is what the post looked like on The People's Voice website at the time of writing:
(Source: The People's Voice screenshot taken on Tue Sep 19:16:15:10 2023 UTC)
The claim only appears in the headline and the opening sentence of the article in The People's Voice. Nowhere else in the story is the WEF or the use of "COVID Concentration Camps" mentioned. No evidence is provided to support the assertions.
A Google News search (archived here) of the keywords "World Economic Forum" and "COVID concentration camps" on September 19, 2023, yielded no matching results. A general "Google search" (archived here), using the same keywords on the same date, produced only stories or social media posts echoing the article in The People's Voice or provided unrelated information.
World Economic Forum
Yann Zopf, head of media at the WEF, dismissed the assertions in The People's Voice article:
I can confirm that these claims are fake news created to discredit the important work that the World Economic Forum does on serious global challenges.
The People's Voice
The People's Voice has a lengthy record of publishing false stories in the past. It describes itself as a resource "comprised of various web pages operated by Fact Checked Limited," but it has nothing to do with fact-checking.
As of this writing, its website contained a liability disclaimer, saying:
FACT CHECKED LIMITED AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED ON THE SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND.
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to the WEF can be found here.
