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Grace Abels
By Grace Abels July 11, 2024

Did LGBTQ+ leaders sign a WEF pro-pedophile treaty? No, that’s Pants on Fire!

If Your Time is short

  • This claim originated on The People’s Voice, a website that frequently publishes false information. 

  • The 10-minute video in the post includes zero evidence to support the claim or details about what treaty or LGBTQ+ leaders it refers to. 

  • PolitiFact could find no evidence such a treaty to "accept pedophiles as a legally protected minority" exists, and a World Economic Forum spokesperson said the claim is fabricated.

An X post went viral after claiming that "LGBTQ+ Leaders Sign WEF Treaty to Accept Pedophiles as 'Legally Protected Minority." As of July 11, the post, which was first shared July 7, had garnered more than 900,000 views and was shared more than 7,000 times. 

The post, which includes a 10-minute news-anchor-style video, claims that "LGBTQ+ leaders are officially recognizing pedophiles as part of the club following World Economic Forum pressure to accept minor attracted persons as legally protected minorities." 

But this claim is untrue. 


(Screenshot of X post) 

The video and headline were created by The People’s Voice (formerly News Punch and YourNewsWire), a website known as a prolific creator and spreader of misinformation

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The People’s Voice has created several false headlines about pedophilia and the World Economic Forum, an international nongovernmental organization and think tank. 

In January 2023, The People’s Voice claimed the World Economic Forum was calling for the "decriminalization of sex with children." This claim was debunked by fact-checkers who found the article included fabricated tweets, quotes, and evidence.

In March 2024, The People’s Voice claimed that the World Economic Forum declared pedophilia a sexual orientation to be added to the LGBTQ+ acronym. This claim was also debunked as False. We have rated False previous claims that LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are incorporating pedophile advocacy into their work. 

This latest claim about a "treaty" to accept pedophiles as a "legally protected minority" also has no basis in fact.

At no point during the post’s 10-minute video does The People’s Voice host, Sean Adl-Tabatabai, offer any evidence to support the claim or any details on the treaty. After the video’s first 20 seconds, the treaty and its supposed signing are never mentioned again. 

After reviewing the World Economic Forum’s website and news reports, PolitiFact could find no evidence such a treaty to "accept pedophiles as a legally protected minority" exists or that the World Economic Forum advocates for greater acceptance of pedophiles.

A World Economic Forum spokesperson told PolitiFact, "These claims are completely made up. The World Economic Forum has never made any statement of this kind." 

After it was posted, the X post was tagged with a community note denoting the post as "fake news" and linking to a fact-check by The Associated Press. Community notes, which users submit, become public if "enough contributors from different points of view rate that note as helpful," according to X. 

Our ruling

No evidence supports the claim that LGBTQ+ leaders signed a "WEF treaty to accept pedophiles as 'legally protected minority.’" This fabricated claim originated on a website that frequently publishes false information. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!

Our Sources

Email interview with Yann Zopf, Head of Media Engagement at the World Economic Forum, July 11, 2024

X post, (archived) July 7, 2024

Rumble, "LGBTQ+ Leaders Sign WEF Treaty to Accept Pedophiles as 'Legally Protected Minority'" July 7, 2024

The People’s Voice, "LGBTQ+ Leaders Sign WEF Treaty to Accept Pedophiles as 'Legally Protected Minority," (Archived), July 7, 2024

The People’s Voice, "The People's Voice," (archived), accessed July 10, 2024

Poynter, "Want to get away with posting fake news on Facebook? Just change your website domain," Jan. 30, 201

PolitiFact, "YourNewsWire.com," accessed July 10, 2024

Poynter, "Fact-checkers have debunked this fake news site 80 times. It's still publishing on Facebook," July 20, 2018
The People’s Voice, "World Economic Forum Declares Pedophiles 'Will Save Humanity'" (archived), Jan. 3, 2023

The Associated Press, "Fabricated WEF story published by site known for false news," Jan. 6, 2023

Reuters, "World Economic Forum did not call for decriminalizing pedophilia," Jan. 9, 2023

The People’s Voice, "WEF Declares Pedophilia 'Sexual Orientation' Must Be Added To LGBTQ+," (archived), March 31, 2024

Lead Stories, "Fact Check: World Economic Forum Did NOT Declare 'Pedophilia' Is Sexual Orientation, Must Be Added To LGBTQ+" April 11, 2024

USA Today, "False claim World Economic Forum ordered LGBTQ+ to add a 'P' for pedophilia," April 15, 2024 

PolitiFact, "Internet-created flag for pedophiles is not connected to LGBTQ+ community," June 8, 2023

World Economic Forum, "Home page," accessed July 10, 2024

X, "About Community Notes on X," accessed July 10, 2024

Poynter, "Why Twitter’s Community Notes feature mostly fails to combat misinformation," June 30, 2023

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More by Grace Abels

Did LGBTQ+ leaders sign a WEF pro-pedophile treaty? No, that’s Pants on Fire!

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