No, the World Economic Forum did not ban natural conception of babies | Fact check
The claim: The World Economic Forum banned the natural human conception
A June 8 article from The People’s Voice claims the World Economic Forum is mandating new requirements for all future-born human offspring.
“WEF Bans Natural Conception: All Babies Must Be Lab-Grown by 2030,” reads the article’s headline.
The article was shared more than 500 times in two weeks, according to the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle.
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Our rating: False
A WEF spokesperson said the organization made no such assertion, and the WEF has no authority to enforce this or any other mandate on sovereign countries. The article was published by a website that regularly publishes fabricated stories.
WEF did not, cannot mandate babies be lab-grown
The WEF is an international organization based in Switzerland that was created to engage "the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas," according to its website.
The organization did not mandate future babies be lab-grown or call for a ban on natural conception, WEF spokesperson Yann Zopf told USA TODAY in an email.
"The World Economic Forum never called for banning natural conception," Zopf said.
There is no mention of a ban on the natural conception of human babies anywhere on the WEF’s website. The People's Voice article does not present any evidence to substantiate its claim.
The post also alleges that the organization funded Japanese researchers creating "human eggs and sperm in the lab from scratch, without the need for human sexual reproduction" to be developed in an "artificial womb."
However, Zopf said the WEF never funded such research.
"These are false claims to discredit the important work that the World Economic Forum does on serious global challenges," he told USA TODAY.
The WEF also does not have the ability to mandate the laws and policies of governments around the globe, 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.
Fact check: No, the World Economic Forum didn't order governments to ration water
The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch, has a lengthy history of publishing fabricated stories, many of which have been debunked by USA TODAY. The WEF is a frequent subject of its baseless claims.
USA TODAY reached out to The People's Voice for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Lead Stories also debunked this claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- USA TODAY, April 26, Fact check: No, the World Economic Forum didn't order governments to ration water
- WEF, accessed June 21, The World Economic Forum
- WEF, accessed June 21, Emerging Technologies
- WEF, accessed June 21, Press Releases
- Yann Zopf, June 27, Email exchange with USA TODAY
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