Did world leaders sign a treaty proposed by the World Economic Forum that requires government approval for someone to live past a certain age? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that suggests the Forum has made any such proposal. Instead, the organization has offered ideas on how countries can help their aging populations stay healthy and productive.
The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) on December 10, 2024. It started:
Here is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 15:12:03 2024 UTC)
The post includes a composite photo of World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab along with an elderly woman and someone who appears to be wearing a nursing uniform. Text with the images reads "World Leaders Sign WEF Treaty Introducing 'Age of Death' Laws in West." That the text and images match a story (archived here) published by The People's Voice on December 10, 2024, screenshot from The People's Voice website is below:
(Source: The People's Voice screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 21:40:57 2024 UTC)
Providing no evidence, the article described a supposed conspiracy to control how long people can live. It did not explain how it knew what was "being planned behind closed doors." From the article:
The World Economic Forum has reportedly instructed world governments to dismantle age of consent laws while introducing something even more sinister: 'Age of Death' laws.
Under this new system, individuals will no longer have the right to live beyond a government-mandated age--let's say 70 years old, for example--without first obtaining state approval. If you're deemed unworthy by a death panel, it's straight to the 'suicide pod' for you. ...
According to a whistleblower embedded in the World Economic Forum, the Age of Death laws are being negotiated as we speak, with most Western countries already signalling they will sign the agreement to vastly reduce their elderly populations.
There is no public evidence the not-for-profit World Economic Forum (archived here) has made such a proposal. A search of WEF's website with the terms "Age of Death" (archived here) returned no pertinent results:
(Source: World Economic Forum website screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 20:29:18 2024 UTC)
In fact, on February 8, 2024, the WEF proposed six principles (archived here) to "help an aging population live well."
Lead Stories reached out to the WEF for comment and will include their future response.
The People's Voice
The People's Voice is among the most prolific online publishers of fake news. Articles on the site often link to and extensively quote stories from other sites to give an appearance of legitimacy but the main claim in the headline and/or the first paragraph of each article is almost never supported by the sources that are offered. The site routinely makes up quotes from people or misrepresents scientific study results.
It originally started as YourNewsWire in 2014 and rebranded as NewsPunch in 2017. In 2023, it rebranded itself again to The People's Voice. The People's Voice/NewsPunch/YourNewsWire has published numerous fake news articles in the past. Its Facebook page, "The People's Voice," lost its verification checkmark, according to a 2018 report from Media Matters For America.
For more Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving the World Economic Forum, click here.
