False: The Bilderberg group is part of the Illuminati and wants to establish a New World Order.

Context

A recent video that has gained traction on Facebook claims that the Bilderberg group is part of the Illuminati and schemes to establish a New World Order (NWO) to control the world.

The Bilderberg group has been at the center of many conspiratorial claims for decades. These claims mainly suggest that the Bilderberg group is evil, controls government officials, and wants to establish a one-world government.  

In Fact

There is no evidence that the Bilderberg group is a nefarious cabal that controls the world and wants to create a dystopian NWO. This is a known baseless conspiracy similar to other New World Order conspiracies.

The Bilderberg group itself refers to the Bilderberg meetings. As mentioned by Encyclopedia Britannica, the meetings are annual and attended by 120 to 150 political leaders, officials, and experts from Europe and North America. The meetings are private and provide an informal environment for those who influence policy to network and discuss common problems without commitment. Further explained on the Bilderberg website, the first meeting took place in 1954 at Hotel De Bilderberg in the Netherlands to have informal discussions to create a better understanding of the trends and issues in the difficult post-war period.

The Bilderberg group is one of many societies targeted by conspiracies that believe a shadow government plots to establish a one-world government. According to a 2009 Politico article, conspiracy theorists are interested in Bilderberg due to its policy of secrecy and its list of influential attendees like Margret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair. The Bilderberg meeting is closed to reporting journalists, conversations are private, and attendees agree not to quote each other. Available on the Bilderberg website and published a few days before each meeting is a list of topics, attendees, and the meeting's location. However, no further details of what is discussed are released. The website also mentions that a press conference was held after each meeting for decades but was canceled in the 90s due to a lack of public interest. The Politico article also states that an anonymous attendee of the 2004 Bilderberg meeting refuted the conspiracies by saying that a wide array of ideologies is represented, making it difficult for any consensus to be reached. 

The video further ties the Bilderberg claims to other NWO conspiracies, such as the Illuminati. As mentioned by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD), conspiracies about the Illuminati date back to the 18th century and focus on a group with the same name. However, conspiracies exaggerate the group's power and ignore the fact the group was dissolved in 1787. There is no evidence to suggest the Illuminati still exists or acts as a shadow government.

The ISD also mentions that NWO conspiracies have notable traction among far-right extremist and militia movements. These antisemitic tropes and narratives claim that Jewish Elites, such as the Rothschilds, rule the world. The Facebook video directly mentions and shows imagery suggesting that the Rothschilds are involved with the Bilderberg conspiracy and are one of the highest bodies of the Illuminati. 

The Verdict

There is no evidence the Bilderberg group is a nefarious shadow government, and this is related to the known New World Order conspiracy. These claims are baseless. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.