No, WEF did not declare all humans must have microchip implanted | Fact check

The claim: WEF declares people must be implanted with microchip to participate in society

A TikTok video shared on Facebook (direct link, archived link) on July 26 shows a man discussing an article about a supposed new World Economic Forum initiative.

“The World Economic Forum has declared that all citizens must be implanted with a CBDC microchip in the very near future in order to be able to fully participate in society and do basic things such as purchase food and water,” he reads aloud from the article.  

The Facebook post received over 2,200 shares while the original TikTok video was liked more than 3,000 times.

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Our rating: False

The WEF has not made such an announcement, and they don’t have the authority to establish laws or requirements in the U.S. or anywhere else. The claim stems from a website that routinely publishes fabricated stories.

WEF can’t mandate or implement rules for global population

WEF spokesperson Trevor Chueu said the organization never made an announcement about implanting people with microchips. There are also no reports of any such announcement from any reputable media outlet.

The WEF also does not have the ability to mandate the laws and policies of governments, Scott Moore, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, previously told USA TODAY. 

"The WEF is a nongovernmental organization and as such has no legal status to exercise the functions of sovereign states, though it can be influential in shaping the views of policymakers," Moore said in an email.

The organization's website reiterates this and states its purpose is to engage "the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas."

The article featured in the video stems from The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch. The site has repeatedly published fabricated stories about the WEF, many of which USA TODAY has debunked.

While the WEF has not called for implanting humans with microchips, it did share a post on its website about central bank digital currency, or CBDC in August 2022. As the post explains, central bank digital currencies are digital versions of a country’s physical currency.

Fact check: Child ID program provides packet to help find missing children, not microchips

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the Facebook post as well as the social media user in the video for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

Our fact-check sources:

• Trevor Chueu, July 31, Email exchange with USA TODAY
• WEF, accessed July 28, Our Mission
• WEF, Aug. 31, 2022, What are central bank digital currencies?
• USA TODAY, April 26, Fact check: No, the World Economic Forum didn't order governments to ration water

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