UN didn't say digital IDs would be required; post distorts aim of new project | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: UN said digital IDs will be mandatory for people wishing to participate in society

A Nov. 5 story from The People's Voice describes a supposed United Nations announcement involving Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

“UN Says Bill Gates ‘Digital IDs’ Will Be Mandatory To Participate in Society,” reads the headline.

The story was shared more than 100 times in nine days, according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool. An Instagram post showing a screenshot of the headline was liked more than 200 times in seven days before it was deleted.

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Our rating: False

A U.N. spokesperson said the organization has not said anything about mandating digital identification. The website that published the claim is known to spread misinformation.

UN pushing for digital infrastructure improvement, not mandatory digital ID

The claim is false, spokespeople for the United Nations Development Program and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told USA TODAY.

“The United Nations has not, at any point, claimed that digital ID will become mandatory,” Victor Garrido Delgado, the development program's spokesperson, said in an email.

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The story from The People’s Voice claims the U.N. announced plans to make digital IDs mandatory for people wishing to participate in society by 2030.

It distorts the details of a campaign launched Nov. 8 by the development program. The so-called "50-in-5" campaign is a global advocacy effort to improve the digital public infrastructure systems in 50 countries and share best practices and technology, Garrido Delgado said – not a path to mandatory digital forms of ID for everyone on Earth.

The program started with 11 countries and aims to have 50 nations design, implement and scale at least one component of infrastructure – either digital payments, digital IDs or data exchanges – in five years, according to the U.N. program.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is among eight organizations that are either collaborating with or supporting the project, but the overall initiative is being led by the countries themselves, the development program said in a release.

The U.N. has separately set a goal of providing legal identification for everyone by 2030, and it has said digital identification could play a role in meeting that goal.

The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch, has repeatedly published fabricated stories, many of which USA TODAY has debunked.

Gates has been a frequent target of misinformation and conspiracy theories. USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that Gates announced when the next pandemic would occur, that he created a video game called "Omicron" in 1999 and that he made social media posts about vaccines in the food supply.

USA TODAY reached out to The People’s Voice but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim UN said it would mandate digital ID by 2030 | Fact check