WEF did not admit COVID-19 was a 'test of public obedience' to a new world order

Context

Social media users shared an article (archived here) by The People's Voice, a website known for spreading fabricated and misleading stories, headlined "WEF Admits COVID Was a 'Test' of Public's Obedience to New World Order" (examples archived here and here). 

The article was shared in various posts, including one (archived here) that brings up a conspiracy theory relating to 15-minute cities. The X (formerly Twitter) post has over 1.2 million views.

Logically Facts found that the World Economic Forum did not admit that COVID-19 was a test of public obedience. 

In fact

The People's Voice article cited as evidence an article by the World Economic Forum titled "'My Carbon': An approach for inclusive and sustainable cities," published in September 2022. It discusses individual responsibility in carbon emissions and the feasibility of personal carbon allowance programs. 

The People's Voice based its article on a piece from Gateway Pundit – also known for spreading misinformation – which in turn harnessed the WEF piece to claim that COVID-19 was a social experiment to see how many would give up individual freedoms and comply with "a new normal." Moreover, the article asserts that WEF implies that sustainability requires compliance with a more authoritarian global order, and non-compliance would risk social inclusion.

However, we did not find that WEF made such an admission or suggestion of a new world order in the article. 

COVID-19 was only mentioned in the context of recent developments that may help realize individual carbon programs in the future. It was not mentioned elsewhere in the article. We could not find any reporting of the WEF admitting the pandemic was maneuvered as a test of public obedience, nor was it stated on the WEF's website or social media accounts.

WEF conspiracies and questionable sources

The People's Voice, previously known as Newspunch, is known for spreading false and misleading information. Logically Facts has previously covered and refuted multiple claims about the WEF by the People's Voice.

The World Economic Forum and its policies are a favored topic among conspiracy theorists, including 15-minute smart cities and the Great Reset conspiracy.  According to a Logically Facts analysis, at the center of these claims is the erroneous depiction of WEF as an evil web of elites who aim to remove people's freedoms and have the means to control and manage world events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or climate change.

Logically Facts has contacted the World Economic Forum but has not yet received a response.

The verdict

There is no evidence the World Economic Forum admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic was a 'test' of the public's obedience to the new world order. The claim stems from a website known to publish false and fabricated stories. Therefore, we marked the claim as false.