Article falsely claims WEF wants payment implants

"The WEF has declared that all citizens must be implanted with a CBDC microchip in the very near future, in order to be able to fully participate in society and do basic things such as purchase food and water," says a July 10, 2023 article in The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch, which has been fact-checked by AFP for a range of false or misleading stories.

The article quotes Oxford University Professor Richard Werner, who has spoken about CBDCs and payment systems, as saying that consumers will need to use the latest technology such as a CBDC chip implant "in order to access their bank accounts."

Similar posts and shares appeared on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.

The posts are part of a wave of misinformation about CBDCs, which are being studied around the world as a way to allow people to hold digital cash without a bank account.

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Screenshot of an online article taken July 20, 2023

The posts are false, according to a WEF spokesperson, who noted that Werner has no official role at the Geneva-based non-profit organization that holds conferences and events about global issues.

"I can confirm that the World Economic Forum never has made any such statement about chip implants linked to digital currencies," Yann Zopf, head of media engagement at the WEF, said in a July 19 email.

"I can also confirm that Richard Werner is not an employee or a spokesperson of the World Economic Forum."

Zopf added that the organization "has no authority over central banks or monetary policy" and as a result could make no such declaration.

Interview out of context

A video embedded in the article includes an hourlong YouTube interview (archived here) with Werner -- an outspoken critic of CBDCs -- but takes his comments out of context.

In the interview, Werner says that "there's no actual need for it (a CBDC) and that need has to be created." He adds further that he believes CBDCs would give too much power to central banks and that "sooner or later they will drive out the private sector competition -- they will drive out the banks."

Werner discussed what he said he had heard about CBDC technology.

"At the moment there's a bit of talk about this being phone-based apps (but) the ultimate goal what they really want; apparently, I was told by a central banker, is... a CBDC looks like a small grain of rice that they want to put under your skin, which is my view a violation of human dignity."

On his website, Werner argues against CBDCs, which he says are a conflict of interest for central banks.

"Ultimately the central planners maximise their power by introducing CBDCs," he writes. "And that’s where a conflict of interest becomes apparent: Shouldn’t the regulators, as umpires, keep out of the business of banking? Shouldn’t they be prevented from competing against the banks which they regulate?"