Social media users have shared reports falsely attributing quotes to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), about COVID-19 vaccines and population control. Reuters could not find any evidence of any man’s comments – and representatives of both said the alleged quotes were fabricated.
The reports (here, here, here) attribute the following quote to Gates: “DNA ‘COVID-19’ vaccines should give us extreme control over the population worldwide.” They also quote Schwab: “The COVID-19 outbreak is the first major step towards unprecedented control over humanity.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters in response to the first quote that it was a false attribution, while YEF Zopf, media head of WEF, said of the second: ‘Of course this’ quote’ is 100% false: Prof . Schwab had never said it and would never say it. This is the opposite of what he believes. The pandemic must be fought with a ‘whole society’ approach. ‘
Reuters also could not find any evidence that Gates or Schwab made any comments. It has previously dismissed other false allegations against both men. Another falsely attributed quote from Schwab can be seen (here), while allegations that Gates created a COVID-19 vaccine to move forward with population control are dismissed here, here, here and here.
Gates has long been a proponent of stunted unsustainable population growth (here) – and said he believes it can be achieved by addressing the causes of poverty and unrest. In 2011, he told Forbes that when he first entered the public health field, it had to focus on contraception. When he later saw data suggesting declining death rates were leading to a drop in birth rates, Gates said he had shifted his focus to rescuing people who were already alive. “We switched to vaccines pretty heavily once we understood them,” he told the magazine (here).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gates was a target of disinformation throughout (here, here, here). In an interview here with Reuters, he said he was surprised at the amount of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media and that he would like to explore the ideas behind it.
VERDICT
Untrue. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the head of the media at the World Economic Forum told Reuters that the quotes were both fabricated. Reuters also could not find any evidence of any man’s comments.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.