Draft:Great Reset conspiracy theory

In 2019, WEF partnered with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct a simulated global pandemic called "Event 201" where world leaders discussed what actions would be taken if such a situation were to occur. This event is often referenced in the conspiracy, being used as "proof" that the global elite had engineered the pandemic or otherwise knew it was coming and did nothing to stop it.{{Cite web |title=Event 201 Pandemic Exercise: Highlights Reel |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=AoLw-Q8X174 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920172731/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoLw-Q8X174 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=YouTube| date=4 November 2019 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Christensen |first1=Michael |last2=Au |first2=Ashli |date=2023-03-13 |title=The Great Reset and the Cultural Boundaries of Conspiracy Theory |url=https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/20128 |journal=International Journal of Communication |language=en |volume=17 |pages=19 |issn=1932-8036 |quote=One scene, shortly after the WEF and the Great Reset are introduced in the video, details a pandemic-preparedness exercise called Event 201 that was held in October 2019 at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and co-sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the WEF. The exercise happened to use a hypothetical example of a novel coronavirus just months before SARS-CoV-2 was identified in China. The eerie timing of the Event 201 fact pattern was presented using a menacing tone to give the impression that the imagined pandemic developed for the exercise was, in fact, a dry run for the COVID-19 pandemic.}}

By mid 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had begun to cause a global recession. In May 2020, the WEF posted an article on their website stating that the pandemic and recession gave individuals and organizations a chance to "reset and reshape the world in a more sustainable way."{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=CB |date=May 15, 2020 |title=How the great COVID-19 reset can help firms build a sustainable future |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/the-covid-19-reset-sustainability/ |website=World Economic Forum}} In June 2020, the WEF officially launched the "Great Reset", with an article by WEF founder Klaus Schwab explaining that the pandemic presented a need for a "great reset" of capitalism, proposing revamping societal and economic structures globally, involving all countries and industries, to address inequalities, environmental issues, and promote sustainability, to aid recovery from the pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Schwab |first=Klaus |author-link=Klaus Schwab |date=Jun 3, 2020 |title=Now is the time for a 'great reset' |url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/the-covid-19-reset-sustainability/ |website=World Economic Forum}}

Many promoters of the theory commonly cite Ida Auken's article on a potential 2030, as well as a 2016 WEF video in which the article was presented alongside other predictions for 2030 and summarized as "You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy. Whatever you want you'll rent and it'll be delivered by drone", as evidence of the Great Reset having malicious intent.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=25 February 2021 |title=Fact check: The World Economic Forum does not have a stated goal to have people own nothing by 2030 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212711/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wef-idUSKBN2AP2T0 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |access-date=20 September 2021 |work=Reuters |language=en}}

An October 2020 article by Snopes{{cite news |date=27 August 2005 |title=Snopes.com: Debunking Myths in Cyberspace |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4819108 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050911101109/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4819108 |archive-date=11 September 2005 |access-date=27 August 2005 |website=NPR}} traced the origins of a chain email posted on conspiracy forums from a member of a non-existent committee within the Liberal Party of Canada that leaked Canada's secret "COVID Global Reset Plan" to the QAnon-dedicated "Q Research" board on 8chan.{{cite news |last1=Evon |first1=Dan |date=29 October 2020 |title=Was Canada's Draconian COVID "Global Reset Plan" Leaked to the Public? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/canada-global-reset-plan-leak/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204075538/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/canada-global-reset-plan-leak/ |archive-date=4 February 2021 |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=Snopes}}

A November 2020 article in The Daily Beast said that even before Biden became president, his "incoming White House already ha[d] its first conspiracy theory to deal with"{{emdash}}the Great Reset conspiracy theory.{{Cite news |last=Sommer |first=Will |date=26 November 2020 |title=The Biden Presidency Already Has Its First Conspiracy Theory: The Great Reset |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-bidens-presidency-already-has-its-first-conspiracy-theory-the-great-reset |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204075539/https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-bidens-presidency-already-has-its-first-conspiracy-theory-the-great-reset |archive-date=4 February 2021 |access-date=28 January 2021 |work=The Daily Beast}} Mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times,{{Cite news |last=Wu |first=Katherine J. |date=17 November 2020 |title=F.D.A. Authorizes the First At-Home Coronavirus Test |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/17/world/covid-19-coronavirus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118001623/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/17/world/covid-19-coronavirus |archive-date=18 November 2020 |accessdate=10 May 2022 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} the BBC,{{cite news |last1=Goodman |first1=Jack |last2=Carmichael |first2=Flora |date=22 November 2020 |title=The coronavirus pandemic "great reset" theory and a false vaccine claim debunked |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55017002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122005829/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55017002 |archive-date=22 November 2020 |access-date=22 November 2020 |work=BBC News}} and The Guardian traced the spread of the latest conspiracy theory on the Great Reset, which had integrated anti-lockdown conspiracies, to internet personalities and groups, including Candace Owens, Glenn Beck, Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson,{{cite news |date=19 November 2020 |title=Trudeau UN speech sparks "Great Reset" conspiracy |url=https://factcheck.afp.com/trudeau-un-speech-sparks-great-reset-conspiracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119232637/https://factcheck.afp.com/trudeau-un-speech-sparks-great-reset-conspiracy |archive-date=19 November 2020 |access-date=19 November 2020 |work=AFP Fact Check}}{{cite news |last=Slobodian |first=Quinn |date=4 December 2020 |title=How the "great reset" of capitalism became an anti-lockdown conspiracy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/04/great-reset-capitalism-became-anti-lockdown-conspiracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220083931/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/04/great-reset-capitalism-became-anti-lockdown-conspiracy |archive-date=20 December 2020 |access-date=20 December 2020 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last=Kamm |first=Oliver |date=20 November 2020 |title=The Great Reset is the latest conspiracy fantasy – it will not be the last |url=https://capx.co/the-great-reset-is-the-latest-conspiracy-fantasy-it-will-not-be-the-last/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213185239/https://capx.co/the-great-reset-is-the-latest-conspiracy-fantasy-it-will-not-be-the-last/ |archive-date=13 December 2020 |access-date=22 November 2020 |work=CapX}} and Paul Joseph Watson,{{cite news |last1=Mahabarta |first1=Yudhistra |date=18 November 2020 |title=Looking For A Logical Exposure Of "The Great Reset", The Covid-19 Conspiracy Theory Now Campaigned By The World Economic Forum |url=https://voi.id/en/bernas/20133/looking-for-a-logical-exposure-of-the-great-reset-the-covid-19-conspiracy-theory-now-campaigned-by-the-world-economic-forum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120070202/https://voi.id/en/bernas/20133/looking-for-a-logical-exposure-of-the-great-reset-the-covid-19-conspiracy-theory-now-campaigned-by-the-world-economic-forum |archive-date=20 November 2020 |access-date=18 November 2020 |work=Voice of Indonesia}} the UK-based editor of Alex Jones' website Infowars, where he advanced the New World Order conspiracy theory.{{cite news |last=Hines |first=Nico |date=22 April 2018 |title=Alex Jones' Protegé, Paul Joseph Watson, Is About to Steal His Crackpot Crown |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/alex-jones-protege-paul-joseph-watson-is-about-to-steal-his-crackpot-crown |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521045340/https://www.thedailybeast.com/alex-jones-protege-paul-joseph-watson-is-about-to-steal-his-crackpot-crown |archive-date=21 May 2019 |access-date=24 January 2019 |work=The Daily Beast}} Ben Sixsmith wrote that the conspiracy theory had been spread by "fringes of Right-Wing Twitter", as well as by Australia's One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson (a "socialist left Marxist view of the world") and UK conservative writer James Delingpole (a "global communist takeover plan"). However, Sixsmith observed the WEF's partners include such capitalist enterprises as Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, IKEA, Lockheed Martin, Ericsson and Deloitte.{{cite news |last=Sixsmith |first=Ben |date=17 November 2020 |title=What is the Great Reset? |url=https://spectator.us/great-reset-davos-klaus-schwab/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117174547/https://spectator.us/great-reset-davos-klaus-schwab/ |archive-date=17 November 2020 |access-date=18 November 2020 |work=The Spectator}}

By 17 November 2020, a short video of Trudeau's speech in which he described key points of the concept of an economic "reset" had gone viral,{{cite news |last1=De Rosa |first1=Nicholas |date=18 November 2020 |title=Le "Great Reset" n'est pas un complot pour contrôler le monde |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1750586/great-reset-grande-reinitialisation-forum-economique-mondial-davos-complot-communisme#:~:text=%C2%AB%20La%20Grande%20R%C3%A9initialisation%20%C2%BB%20%E2%80%93%20ou,meilleur%20apr%C3%A8s%20la%20crise%20sanitaire. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120171259/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1750586/great-reset-grande-reinitialisation-forum-economique-mondial-davos-complot-communisme#:~:text=%C2%AB%20La%20Grande%20R%C3%A9initialisation%20%C2%BB%20%E2%80%93%20ou,meilleur%20apr%C3%A8s%20la%20crise%20sanitaire. |archive-date=20 November 2020 |access-date=27 January 2021 |work=Radio-Canada |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |language=fr}} as it reignited fervor over the Great Reset conspiracy theory that had taken on a new life with the launching of the forum in May.{{cite news |last1=Goforth |first1=Claire |date=16 November 2020 |title=Trudeau speech reignites conspiracy theory fervor over "Great Reset" |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/great-reset-conspiracy-theory/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116171312/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/great-reset-conspiracy-theory/ |archive-date=16 November 2020 |access-date=18 November 2020 |work=The Daily Dot}} By November 2020, Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada lamented on his webpage on 17 November that he was the only Canadian politician along with Pierre Poilievre and Colin Carrie, an MP,{{cite news |date=20 November 2020 |title=The Rebel to Rabble Review: Calls to 'stop the great reset'; O'Toole's Scheer dilemma |url=https://ipolitics.ca/2020/11/20/the-rebel-to-rabble-review-calls-to-stop-the-great-reset-otooles-scheer-dilemma/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204075540/https://ipolitics.ca/2020/11/20/the-rebel-to-rabble-review-calls-to-stop-the-great-reset-otooles-scheer-dilemma/ |archive-date=4 February 2021 |access-date=24 November 2020 |work=iPolitics |publisher=iPolitics}} speaking up against the globalist threat with Trudeau as the "world's most prominent defender" of this Great Reset. Other critics included Canadian conservative political commentators such as Ezra Levant and Alberta's Premier at that time Jason Kenney.{{cite news |last1=Alba |first1=Davey |author-link1=Davey Alba |date=17 November 2020 |title=The baseless "Great Reset" conspiracy theory rises again. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/17/world/covid-19-coronavirus#the-baseless-great-reset-conspiracy-theory-rises-again |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118001623/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/17/world/covid-19-coronavirus#the-baseless-great-reset-conspiracy-theory-rises-again |archive-date=18 November 2020 |access-date=18 November 2020 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last1=Alex |first1=Boutillier |date=20 November 2020 |title=A Conservative MP warns that Justin Trudeau wants a 'Great Reset.' Conspiracy theorists are worried, too |url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/11/19/a-conservative-mp-warns-that-justin-trudeau-wants-a-great-reset-conspiracy-theorists-are-worried-too.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120235324/https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/11/19/a-conservative-mp-warns-that-justin-trudeau-wants-a-great-reset-conspiracy-theorists-are-worried-too.html |archive-date=20 November 2020 |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=Toronto Star |publisher=Torstar}} They claimed that Trudeau's rhetoric resembled that of the Great Reset conspiracy. Conservative Spencer Fernando stated that, "We want our lives to get back to normal... Instead they offer only more fear, more control, more centralization, and a reshaping of our lives and our economy without even asking us."{{Cite news |last=Proulx |first=Boris |date=21 November 2020 |title=Une 'théorie du complot' s'invite dans les rangs conservateurs |url=https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/590193/une-theorie-du-complot-s-infiltre-dans-les-rangs-des-conservateurs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121141917/https://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/590193/une-theorie-du-complot-s-infiltre-dans-les-rangs-des-conservateurs |archive-date=21 November 2020 |access-date=27 January 2021 |work=Le Devoir}} When Poilievre circulated a petition to "Stop the Reset", Le Devoir headlined an article saying that the Conservative Party was embracing conspiracy theories. The Toronto Star editorial board criticized Poilievre for "giving oxygen" to the conspiracy theory,{{cite news |date=23 November 2020 |title=Editorial {{!}} Pierre Poilievre is flirting with the far right by pushing "Great Reset" conspiracy |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2020/11/23/pierre-poilievre-is-flirting-with-the-far-right-by-pushing-great-reset-conspiracy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123233004/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2020/11/23/pierre-poilievre-is-flirting-with-the-far-right-by-pushing-great-reset-conspiracy.html |archive-date=23 November 2020 |access-date=24 November 2020 |work=Toronto Star |publisher=Torstar}} with some suggesting his post was related to a possible federal election.

A May 2022 article in The Globe and Mail said that "WEF conspiracy theory" was being spread to "Canada's main streets" and was brought up during the leadership race of the Conservative Party of Canada.{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Campbell |date=10 May 2022 |title=The WEF conspiracy theory is in the Conservative leadership race, and Canada's main streets |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservative-leadership-race-world-economic-forum/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510120516/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservative-leadership-race-world-economic-forum/ |archive-date=10 May 2022 |access-date=10 May 2022 |work=The Globe and Mail}} When Schwab "brags" about Canadian politicians' connections to the WEF, this feeds into "theories of cabals". In 2021, when Schwab said that "half of Canada's cabinet were Young Global Leaders" {{emdash}}including Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner{{emdash}}conspiracy theorists interpreted that to mean that Canadian cabinet ministers are "minions" controlled by Schwab. The article called on politicians in Canada who had been "flirting" with the Great Reset conspiracy theories through Twitter{{emdash}}Conservative leadership candidates Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis quell the distrust by admitting that "there is no such cabal". In September 2022, CBC News tracked the spread of related disinformation and conspiracy theories in Canada.{{cite news |last1=Zimonjic |first1=Peter |date=3 September 2022 |title=World Economic Forum official says Canada has bigger issues to discuss than conspiracy theories |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/adrian-monck-world-economic-forum-house-interview-1.6571569 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907232551/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/adrian-monck-world-economic-forum-house-interview-1.6571569 |archive-date=7 September 2022 |access-date=8 September 2022 |work=CBC News}}

On 13 December 2020, Australian advertising executive Rowan Dean promoted the conspiracy theory on Sky News Australia, claiming that "This Great Reset is as serious and dangerous a threat to our prosperity – to your prosperity and your freedom – as we have faced in decades".{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Anne |date=23 February 2021 |title=Sky News Australia is tapping into the global conspiracy set – and it's paying off |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/24/sky-news-australia-is-tapping-into-the-global-conspiracy-set-and-its-paying-off |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801140536/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/24/sky-news-australia-is-tapping-into-the-global-conspiracy-set-and-its-paying-off |archive-date=1 August 2021 |access-date=1 August 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}

The conspiracy theory has also been disseminated by Russian propaganda outlets. According to Oliver Kamm, in a 2020 article for the CapX website: "The propaganda apparatus of the Putin regime has for many months published wild allegations from obscure bloggers that the Great Reset is code for oligarchs to amass wealth and control populations." In 2021, the British anti-disinformation organization Logically reported that the website The Exposé has promoted Great Reset conspiracy theories framed as breaking news since its establishment in November 2020.{{Cite web |last=Piper |first=Ernie |date=22 July 2021 |title=EXCLUSIVE: Actors Behind UK Misinformation Site The Daily Expose Revealed |url=https://www.logically.ai/articles/actors-behind-uk-misinformation-site-the-daily-expose |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921220120/https://www.logically.ai/articles/actors-behind-uk-misinformation-site-the-daily-expose |archive-date=21 September 2022 |access-date=10 August 2022 |website=Logically |language=en}}

Great Reset conspiracy theories were a theme in the 2022 anti-vaccine film Died Suddenly which appeared on the Stew Peters Network channel on the Rumble website.{{cite web |date=1 December 2022 |title=We fact checked claims made in new anti-vax film Died Suddenly. Here's what we found |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-02/fact-check-debunking-died-suddenly/101720550 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204024752/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-02/fact-check-debunking-died-suddenly/101720550 |archive-date=4 December 2022 |access-date=4 December 2022 |website=ABC News |language=en-AU}}{{cite web |date=29 November 2022 |title='Died Suddenly' film amplifies false Covid-19 vaccine claims |url=https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.32VB23Q |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204090902/https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.32VB23Q |archive-date=4 December 2022 |access-date=4 December 2022 |website=Fact Check |language=en}}