The World Economic Forum does not have a police force
The World Economic Forum does not have a police force
Reuters - Social media users have falsely claimed that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has its own police force after police officers in Davos, Switzerland, were spotted wearing badges with the WEF logo during the organization’s annual meeting.
Thousands of people have shared this across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (here , here and here), alongside a photo of a Swiss police officer, and a closeup of his left sleeve, where there are two badges.
One has an orange insignia and the wording: “World Economic Forum,” “POLICE,” and “2022”.
“This should freak everyone out,” said one Facebook user on May 24. “A private organization, the WEF, has its own police force… This organization is not a government, but they sure act like it.
“Where is their authority recognized? What authority do they have?”
The World Economic Forum is holding its annual Davos meeting between May 22-24, where this year many of its attendees are worried about the current threats to the global economy (here).
Reuters Fact Check has previously addressed misinformation related to the WEF (here , here and here).
On May 24, police in the Graubunden canton, where Davos is located, told Reuters that the WEF-police badge is an additional one redesigned every year by the region’s own emergency services.
“This serves the team spirit for use around the annual meeting,” the spokesperson said, adding: “The WEF organization does not have a police force.”
Moreover, the closeup picture of the officer’s sleeve shows a second badge representing the Graubunden security service (seen bit.ly/3MInBBC and here).
Badges marking the WEF annual meeting in previous years can also be seen swiss-policepatches.ch/GR.htm.
VERDICT
False. The WEF does not have a police force. The police badges with a WEF logo are used by local officers in Graubunden to mark the organization’s annual conference.
