“We’ll reject the influence of the World Economic Forum” claims Reform UK’s Nigel Farage in a recent post to X.
The World Economic Forum, or WEF, has generated increasing attention, and sparked conspiracy theories, on social posts over the past few years.
But what’s everyone referring to when they mention WEF and why has it created such debate online?
WEF stands for the World Economic Forum, which brings together a group of thinkers from around the world each year to Davos in Switzerland.
Guests, who meet to share ideas and discuss global issues, often include leaders of countries around the world, including Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and France’s Macron.
Musicians and celebrities have also attended in the past, with rapper will.i.am giving famously giving a speech back in 2015, while Nile Rodgers and Michelle Yeoh were given awards at this year’s summit.
Notably, King Charles has also attended in the past.
But despite some of the world’s big beasts being part of the annual event, the World Economic Forum does not carry any links to governments, and no one is officially a “member” of the organisation.
Something many found issue with when Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage took to X, formerly Twitter to make a statement.
In 2020 King Charles – then still a prince – and other leaders at the WEF called for a ‘Great Reset’ following the pandemic.
The aim was to build stronger economies around the world, become more sustainable, and tackle climate change.
It was all a bit vague – because of that, and because it was launched by people seen as powerful and influential, conspiracy theories began to grow.
Broken down by openDemocracy, the conspiracy largely consists of: “The Great Reset is the global elite’s plan to instate a communist world order by abolishing private property while using COVID-19 to solve overpopulation and enslaving what remains of humanity with vaccines.”
That’s not the case – but it didn’t stop the conspiracy from gaining traction.
Many have claimed, ever since, that this is all a “secret plan by the elite” claiming to control people’s lives.
Taking a look at comments on videos and live streams by ITV News across various social platforms in relation to the General Election, many comments referenced ‘WEF’.
We found several including “the WEF wanted their puppet Rishi Sunak instilled” and “your country is ruled by WEF”.
The World Economic Forum says its an “international, non-governmental” organisation that engages “political, business, academic, civil society and other leaders of society” to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
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