The World Economic Forum (WEF) is back to its old rhythm: after three years, the 53rd meeting in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos will take place again in January for the first time.

Since Monday, January 16, elites from politics, business and civil society have been coming together in the Alps for five days.

Hardly any other meeting has so much disinformation circulating, sometimes deliberately spread by conspiracy supporters.

A gathering of elites - for some, that alone is enough to vilify the World Economic Forum as some kind of hub for evil.

"Large economic associations like the World Economic Forum like to be projection screens for conspiracy narratives, because a wide variety of powerful people come together to exchange ideas," says political scientist Jan Rathje from the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS).

CeMAS examines radicalization tendencies and conspiracy stories on the internet.

WEF founder Klaus Schwab

The focus of the disinformation is the German WEF founder Klaus Schwab.

He founded the World Economic Forum in 1971 and is still the chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF for World Economic Forum).

"The personification of a conspiracy theory fits into the world view of good and evil," says psychologist Lotte Pummerer from the Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media (IWM) in Tübingen.

The corona pandemic has given the false claims a boost.

In 2020, Schwab presented the initiative "The Great Reset" and his book of almost the same name.

In it, he sees the pandemic as an opportunity to make societies and the global economy more just, social and ecologically sustainable.

So far the facts.

Conspiracy advocates see the “Great Reset” as a sinister plan by people conferring at meetings like the World Economic Forum to fundamentally change the world according to their conspiratorial ideas, against the will of “ordinary” populace.

To this end, according to the conspiracy myth, they are said to have caused the pandemic on purpose.

The Great Reset Conspiracy Myth

At the time, a fake Twitter account announced under Schwab's name that only vaccinated people would receive food packages in the event of shortages.

A fictional statement.

Sometimes his father is accused of having been a confidant of Adolf Hitler, sometimes the economist is said to be part of the Rothschild banking family – an anti-Semitic cipher for Jewish rulers who are supposedly acting in secret.

If one believes this lie of a forced transformation of the world, various aspects are reinterpreted accordingly: An appeal to share vehicles more often, known as the "sharing economy", becomes the lie that the WEF wants to ban private cars.

The dpa has published a fact check on this.

In a WEF patch on the uniform of Swiss police officers, conspiracy supporters see evidence that the economic gathering has its own police force, much like a state.

The organization is said to have also called for the killing of millions of dogs and cats worldwide.

The aim is to reduce the CO₂ footprint of animal meat consumption and thus counteract climate change.

The dpa also exposed this false claim as such.

Is it all just crazy, as amusing as it is harmless?

no way.

Such sometimes abstruse ideas can have real consequences.

"We have seen in research that conspiracy theories lead to greater distrust in politics and in other people," says Pummerer.

“Conspiracy advocates also have less trust in other people and are less likely to conform to social norms.

This has consequences for social cohesion.”

The facts about the World Economic Forum in Davos

So here are the facts about the World Economic Forum in Davos: The 53rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 January 2023.

Because of the pandemic, there was no physical meeting in 2021; last year, the event took place on a reduced scale in May.

However, at the insistence of the paying members, the forum has moved back to the beginning of the year for its 53rd edition.

This year's motto is "Cooperation in a fragmented world".

In view of enormous challenges such as war, pandemic, inflation and climate protection, "many decision-makers currently feel overwhelmed by the complexity".

Around 2,700 people from 130 countries are taking part in the 2023 World Economic Forum.

More than 600 CEOs and 52 heads of state and government are expected – more than ever before.

They want to discuss solutions to international problems.

As in the previous year, the focus will probably be on the war in Ukraine and its effects on the global economy.

There is no shortage of problems at the moment: the energy and climate crisis, high inflation and the threat of recession, disrupted supply chains and the corona pandemic, especially in China.

However, big names are missing.

Short-term participation by US President Joe Biden is considered unlikely; instead, his special envoy for the climate, John Kerry, is expected in Davos, as is former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Chinese head of state and government Xi Jinping will also not be present; he is sending Vice Premier Liu He.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to connect via video.

The French President and British Prime Minister are also absent from the meeting.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is the most well-known Western top politician.

He is accompanied by several cabinet members such as Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).

ECB boss Christine Lagarde, EU Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen, climate protection activist Luisa Neubauer and Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing are also part of the party.

At least 100 billionaires are expected, as well as representatives from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

But no Russian oligarch will go to Davos.

The large number of 56 finance ministers and 19 central bank governors suggests intensive discussions on inflation.

In addition, WEF President Børge Brende is expecting exciting talks between US trade delegates and representatives of the European Union about the multi-billion investment project "Inflation Reduction Act".

"Industrial policy is back," notes the Norwegian.

It is important that there are fair rules.

Do not dismiss factual criticism as belief in a conspiracy

But not all resentment about the World Economic Forum is a myth.

"It is important to distinguish between conspiracy ideologies and criticism," says political scientist Rathje.

Criticism of the ruling and powerful is important for liberal democracies.

However, it should not reduce the complexity of events to such an extent that it could only be a conspiracy of elites.

"It is at the core of conspiracy theories that actions are always seen as having malicious intent," says psychologist Pummerer.

"That distinguishes it from factual criticism that is based on facts and wants to bring about change."

The panorama should also be correct: at 1500 meters altitude, there is finally snow again in Davos.