World Economic Forum did not call for decriminalizing pedophilia
World Economic Forum did not call for decriminalizing pedophilia
(Reuters) - The World Economic Forum (WEF) has never promoted the idea of decriminalizing pedophilia, a spokesperson told Reuters, but users online are sharing posts making that claim, which link to a website that has previously published false information and does not provide evidence for the allegation.
The claim appears to originate from NewsPunch, a US-based website that has published misinformation about the WEF debunked by Reuters Fact Check in the past (here), (here).
A Twitter user sharing the claim that the WEF is “now calling for the decriminalization of sex with children, arguing that laws against ‘age gap love,’ more commonly known as pedophilia, ‘violate human rights’” can be seen (here).
More iterations of the claim can be seen on Facebook (here) and (here).
A WEF spokesperson told Reuters in an email that the claim is “completely made up” and that the WEF “has never made any statement of this kind.”
Some posts online link to a Jan. 3 article on NewsPunch titled, “World Economic Forum Declares Pedophiles ‘Will Save Humanity’”(here).
Other posts link to a video on Rumble posted by The People’s Voice, which is affiliated with NewsPunch. The video is embedded in the NewsPunch article as well.
The article also includes a graphic of a tweet purportedly by the WEF saying, “Age gap love laws violate human rights” as proof of the claim.
However, a Google search for keywords including WEF, pedophilia, decriminalization, human rights, age gap love and children does not lead to credible news reports that the WEF ever made such statement. The same search terms produce no results on the WEF’s official website or Twitter page.
NewsPunch, which describes itself as “committed to covering the headlines mainstream outlets shy away from,” did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
VERDICT
False. There is no evidence of the World Economic Forum promoting decriminalization of pedophilia, and a spokesperson for organization denied the allegation to Reuters.
