At the beginning of July 2023, news spread on the Internet that the World Economic Forum proposed to urgently withdraw cash from circulation and introduce credit scores instead. We decided to check if this is true.

Almost identical posts appeared in a number of Telegram channels, which said: “The WEF demands that all governments urgently abolish cash and introduce social credit scores in Chinese style. The WEF called on world leaders to accelerate the implementation of CBDC (digital versions of national currencies). In effect, a digital currency will transfer complete financial control over people’s lives to central banks and governments.” For example, the channels “Buyan - what in the world is there?"(73,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Informant"(66,000), "Coincidence"(56,000), "World conspiracy" (41,000) and "Peace in the moment"(23,000). Users of other social networks also reposted this news (Twitter, Reddit, "VKontakte", Facebook*) And blogging platforms. In some sources TBCthat the abolition of cash, “turning the world into a digital concentration camp,” is demanded not just by the WEF, but by its president Klaus Schwab personally.

The authors of the publications refer to document entitled “Global Principles for the Interoperability of Central Bank Digital Currencies”, actually published on the WEF website on June 29, 2023. The purpose of the report, as stated by its authors, is an attempt to “take a neutral, objective and analytical look at the interoperability of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)” (p. 5), and not a call for action. Moreover, on the next page the authors clarify that “the issuance and development of CBDCs are sovereign decisions that must be made by each jurisdiction. <…> This report does not promote or advocate the need for a CBDC. It discusses the measures that need to be taken in the event of the issuance of a CBDC.” The document analyzes the experience of different countries in the implementation of digital currencies and recommendations on how CBDC systems of different countries should work and interact with each other in the future.

Digital currency central banks are the third type of money, in addition to cash and non-cash (that is, money on a card or bank account). In particular, digital ruble The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is also going to issue it. It will be a unique digital code stored in digital wallets on the Central Bank platform. The agency claims that this digital money can be used through any bank where a person has an account; Internet access will not be needed for payment, and it can be cashed out at an ATM at any time. The closest analogue of digital money available for purchase now is cryptocurrencies. However, unlike them, the digital ruble will be issued only by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, it will be backed by the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves (this will protect it from high volatility, like, for example, Bitcoin) and will not be anonymous: the movements of unique digital rubles will be quite easy to track. July 11, 2023 State Duma of the Russian Federation passed the law, allowing the issuance of digital currency, and by the end of the year the Central Bank plans to launch testing among a narrow circle of clients of 15 Russian banks. The Central Bank emphasizes that they are going to introduce the digital ruble in stages and it will only be an addition, and not a replacement for cash or non-cash money.

Just like central banks different countries of the world, the authors of the WEF report look with caution at the future of digital currencies and not only do not call for their urgent introduction, but also list (p. 23) the possible threats that CBDCs may pose: for example, the possible loss of control by the central bank over monetary operations, vulnerability to cyber attacks and fraud, increased geopolitical risks (due to the spread of digital currencies, sanctions imposed on some countries may lose their effectiveness), etc. In The document also contains recommendations for possible beneficiaries: for the Central Bank, for those who make decisions regarding monetary policy, for the private sector, etc. However, they all relate mainly to the development of standards for the use of CBDC, their research, exchange of experience, consistency of actions, and other things. There are no calls to urgently cancel anything (for example, cash) or introduce it.

There is not a word at all about any Chinese-style social credit scores in the WEF report, primarily because the Chinese social credit system (which also far from implementation throughout the country) has nothing to do with CBDC - it is not an analogue of money at all, neither cash nor digital. As conceived by the creators, this is a kind of reliability rating, which takes into account the law-abidingness, creditworthiness and other indicators of individuals and officials, as well as organizations. This system can be compared, rather, to a person’s credit history, used by banks, for example, when deciding whether to issue a loan. In the proposed (and already partially implemented) Chinese model take into account also the social history of a citizen, that is, the “good” and “bad” deeds he commits (for example, participation in charity events and throwing garbage in the wrong place).

Previously "Verified" already refuted information that the WEF allegedly called on governments to allow marriages with animals. Then our colleagues at Snopes received a comment from the organization's spokesman Jan Zopf, where he stated that the WEF, as a non-governmental organization, “has neither the authority nor the intention to give orders to governments, other organizations or individuals.” Therefore, even if the WEF experts believed that cash urgently needed to be replaced by digital currency or any kind of credit scores, they could not “urgently demand” anything from national governments.

As follows from the agency's analysis AFP, as well as projects Lead Stories And Full Fact, abroad, statements about the WEF’s allegedly voiced calls for a world without cash appeared earlier than in Russian, back at the end of June 2023. Unfortunately, neither we nor our colleagues were able to discover the original source of the misinformation. False reports about the activities of the WEF are spreading far and wide in different countries not for the first time, organization regularly becomes the object of such statements that do not correspond to reality.

Thus, the World Economic Forum has not made any demands for the introduction of social credit points at the global level and their possible replacement of cash currency. The authors of posts with such statements probably themselves do not fully understand how the very social credit system in China they write about works. The WEF website actually published a report on digital currencies of central banks, but it is only an analysis of the existing experience of different countries with recommendations and warnings; there are no calls to urgently introduce or replace anything in the document. It was not possible to find other possible statements by WEF representatives calling for the mandatory introduction of digital currencies.

*Russian authorities think the company Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Facebook, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Cover photo: Getty Images Signature via Canva