An image shared on Facebook claims Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and World Economic Forum executive chairman Klaus Schwab made similar remarks about how the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to greater control over mankind.

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

There is no record of either man making the statement attributed to them in the post.

Fact Check:

The image shows two headshots, one of Gates and the other of Schwab, both next to statements they allegedly said. It quotes Gates as saying, “DNA ‘COVID-19’ vaccines should give us extreme control over population worldwide,” while it credits Schwab with saying, “The COVID-19 outbreak is the first big step towards unprecedented control over mankind.”

Gates has regularly participated in the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, since 1996, according to the organization’s website. He and Schwab have shared the stage at World Economic Forum events on at least two instances.

Neither quote, however, appears to be genuine, as Check Your Fact didn’t find any credible record of either saying the statement attributed to them. The image does not provide sources for the alleged quotes. (RELATED: Did Bill Gates Say 3 Billion People Need To Die?)

The quote attributed to Gates does not appear on his blog or any of his social media accounts. Likewise, the statement credited to Schwab cannot be found on his verified Twitter account. Major media outlets also haven’t quoted the two as saying the statements.

“I can confirm that Klaus Schwab never said that statement,” World Economic Forum spokesperson Alem Tedeneke told Check Your Fact.

Check Your Fact reached out to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for comment and will update this piece if a response is provided. The Gates Foundation previously told Reuters it was a false attribution.

While Gates has expressed concern about unsustainable global population growth rates in the past, there is no indication he has proposed using COVID-19 vaccines as a way to gain “extreme control over population worldwide.” He has proposed reducing child mortality rates through improved health care access as a way to help slow unsustainable population growth rates, such as in a 2012 video where he said, “Amazingly, as children survive, parents feel like they’ll have enough kids to support them in their old age, so they choose to have less children.”

On the World Economic Forum website, Schwab stated that the COVID-19 pandemic “represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world to create a healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous world.” However, he does not appear to have said it is a “big step towards unprecedented control over mankind” on the World Economic Forum website or elsewhere.

Both men have been the subject of misinformation in recent months. Check Your Fact recently debunked a fabricated tweet about deadly global food shortages that was falsely attributed to Schwab.