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World Economic Forum Executive Chair Klaus Schwab delivers a speech, Jan. 17, 2023, at the group's conference in Davos, Switzerland. (AP) World Economic Forum Executive Chair Klaus Schwab delivers a speech, Jan. 17, 2023, at the group's conference in Davos, Switzerland. (AP)

World Economic Forum Executive Chair Klaus Schwab delivers a speech, Jan. 17, 2023, at the group's conference in Davos, Switzerland. (AP)

Madison Czopek
By Madison Czopek January 26, 2024

WEF’s Klaus Schwab didn’t admit a revolution is destroying his ‘Great Reset’ agenda

If Your Time is short

  • We found no credible reports that show World Economic Forum founder and Chair Klaus Schwab said a "political revolution" is destroying his "Great Reset" agenda. 

  • The claim invokes the "Great Reset" conspiracy theory. Adherents claim that elites aiming to establish a totalitarian global regime used the coronavirus to depopulate the earth and reorganize society, but the theory has been widely debunked.

  • No spin, just facts you can trust. Here's how we do it.

Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum’s founder and executive chair, has become something of a conspiracy theorist’s bogeyman in recent years. 

In 2023, we fact-checked claims that Schwab:

  • Announced "the end of car ownership." He can’t and didn’t do that.

  • Said the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda is "failing." We found no evidence of that.

  • Called for artificial intelligence technology "to replace democratic elections." Schwab raised a hypothetical scenario about AI’s future. He didn’t advocate for replacing elections.

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  • Admitted he plans to "implement China-style forced COVID lockdowns all over the world during the ‘next pandemic.’" We found no evidence he said this, either.

With those False ratings in mind, if a social media post claims Schwab said something inflammatory, it bears a second look — so a post pointing to an alleged Schwab sentiment caught our eye. 

"Klaus Schwab Admits ‘Political Revolution’ Against The ‘Great Reset’ Is Destroying His Agenda," read the headline in a Jan. 20 Instagram post

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The original article with that matching headline was published Jan. 19 on The People’s Voice, a website known for spreading misinformation. We’ve repeatedly fact-checked the site’s false headlines, and Baxter Dmitry — who wrote the article — is a byline seen often on misinformation sites

(Screenshot from Instagram)

The article does not attribute the headline’s sentiments to Schwab. It doesn’t quote Schwab at all, but an X post embedded in the story includes a clip of Schwab delivering a speech. 

"You have this anti-system movement," Schwab says in the clip. "What we are seeing is a revolution against the system. So, fixing the present system is not enough." 

PolitiFact contacted the World Economic Forum, but did not immediately hear back. A World Economic Forum spokesperson told The Associated Press that the speech in the X post was from 2017. 

Schwab spoke about "the challenges of globalism" at the 2017 World Governments Summit. 

Schwab’s 2017 remarks contained no mention of "The Great Reset" — the name given to a set of World Economic Forum policy ideas for economic recovery during the pandemic. 

The initiative became a widely debunked conspiracy theory, with proponents believing elites aiming to establish a totalitarian global regime used the coronavirus to depopulate Earth and reorganize society. 

Schwab delivered his 2017 speech well before the "Great Reset" pandemic recovery concept existed.  

We found no other published articles or credible information that show Schwab ever said a revolution is destroying his "Great Reset" agenda.

We rate the claim that Schwab said a political revolution against the "Great Reset" is destroying his agenda False. 

RELATED: Claim that Klaus Schwab’s daughter warned of climate lockdowns is from misinformation site

Our Sources

Instagram post, Jan. 20, 2024

The People’s Voice, Klaus Schwab Admits ‘Political Revolution’ Against The ‘Great Reset’ Is Destroying His Agenda, Jan. 19, 2024

Check Your Fact, FACT CHECK: No, Klaus Schwab Did Not Admit ‘Political Revolution’ Is Destroying His ‘Great Reset’ Agenda, Jan. 24, 2024

Lead Stories, Fact Check: Klaus Schwab Did NOT Say 'Political Revolution' Is 'Destroying' His 'Great Reset' Agenda, Jan. 22, 2024

The Associated Press, The WEF’s chairman did not confess that a ‘political revolution’ is destroying his agenda, Jan. 26, 2024

Poynter, Fact-checkers have debunked this fake news site 80 times. It’s still publishing on Facebook, July 20, 2018

Post on X, Jan. 18, 2024

World Governments Summit on YouTube, WGS17 Session: The Challenges of Globalism, March 9, 2017

FactCheck.org, Misinformation Directory, Nov. 12, 2018

NewsWhip, Who is still sharing fake news on social media? April 24, 2018

World Economic Forum, The Great Reset, archived April 5, 2023

PolitiFact, Claim that Klaus Schwab’s daughter warned of climate lockdowns is from misinformation site, Aug. 23, 2024

PolitiFact, Fake story about death of Burisma 'whistleblower' started on site known for misinformation, Oct. 3, 2023

PolitiFact, Klaus Schwab can’t and didn’t end car ownership, Oct. 11, 2023

PolitiFact, No evidence Klaus Schwab said United Nations’ 2030 Agenda is failing, Sept. 28, 2023

PolitiFact, World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab didn’t call for AI to replace elections, Aug. 9, 2023

PolitiFact, World Economic Forum chairman Klaus Schwab didn’t admit to forced lockdown plot, July 24, 2023

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More by Madison Czopek

WEF’s Klaus Schwab didn’t admit a revolution is destroying his ‘Great Reset’ agenda

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