Larry Fink promotes ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’ in Davos, WEF restricts replies on X

The WEF neither restored trust nor acted in a spirit of dialogue: perspective

When Larry Fink opened the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting this week under the theme of “A Spirit of Dialogue,” he said that the WEF would be more transparent and give a voice to those outside of those gathered in Davos in an effort to restore trust.

But even as the WEF Annual Meeting 2026 was going down, the WEF restricted all replies from users it didn’t mention on X.

“Rebuilding trust” was also the theme of the WEF’s 2024 annual meeting, but that still hasn’t been achieved by Fink’s own admittance in his welcoming remarks.

“It’s obvious that the world now places far less trust in us to help shape what comes next. If the World Economic Forum is going to be useful going forward, it has to regain that trust”

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

In order to regain the trust that the WEF lost long ago, Fink’s response was to be more transparent and engaging with people outside the World Economic Forum.

“We need to make sure we widen who gets a voice in these conversations over the coming week,” said the WEF interim co-chair.

“We have to be a lot more transparent and more engaged with people who don’t feel represented in rooms like this,” he added.

“Who can reply? Accounts @wef mentioned can reply”

WEF, X, January 2026

Fink acknowledged that Davos was an “elite gathering” and that the people most affected by what went on in WEF sessions would never be involved.

“Many of the people most affected by what we talk about here will never come to this conference. That’s a central tension of this forum,” said the billionaire CEO of BlackRock.

For this reason, this year’s WEF theme is “A Spirit of Dialogue.”

And in the spirit of dialogue, the WEF decided to restrict all comments on X from accounts it doesn’t mention.

“Davos is an elite gathering trying to shape a world that belongs to everyone. That is why this year’s theme is ‘A Spirit of Dialogue'”

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

“You should also see the World Economic Forum start doing something new — showing up and listening in places where the modern world is actually being built“

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

At the same time WEF was guaranteeing that no dialogue could take place in its comments sections, Fink was in Davos saying:

“Dialogue, especially the listening half of dialogue is what the World Economic Forum needs going forward. We need more of it.”

On stage, the CEO of the largest asset management company in the world made a commitment that the WEF would start listening.

“You should also see the World Economic Forum start doing something new — showing up and listening in places where the modern world is actually being built.”

The man worth $1.3 billion dedicated a good portion of his speech to acknowledging the WEF’s reputation as an elite gathering with serious trust issues, but as of today, his commitment to being more open, transparent, and engaging has just been words.

It remains to be seen if the WEF will actually listen to the people of the world it wishes to shape.

Even if the WEF does fulfill its promise to listen, does it have any real obligation to change course or act upon what it hears?

“We hear all about the elites […] How does an established institution make a difference in an era of deep institutional mistrust? There’s some truth to the critique”

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

Fink questioned, “Will anyone outside this room care what we’re doing here?“

The answer is an obvious, YES!

The WEF is the organization for promoting public-private partnerships — the merger of corporation and state, aka corporatism or fascism — in order to bring in stakeholder capitalism and global governance run by technocrats.

The WEF promotes the idea that you will own nothing and be happy.

The WEF pushes the consumption of fake food and insects, limiting travel, digital ID, vaccine passports, programmable digital currencies, and putting prices on everything in nature.

And the WEF is the architect (along with King Charles III) of the great reset agenda to reshape all of society and the global economy powered by technologies from the so-called fourth industrial revolution that ends in transhumanism — the fusion of our physical, biological, and digital identities.

So yes, people outside that room in the billionaire mountain retreat in Switzerland do actually care what the WEF is doing in trying to control every aspect of their lives.

“If we’re honest, for many people this meeting feels out of step with the moment,” said Fink.

“We hear all about the elites. How does that play out in an age of populism?

“How does an established institution make a difference in an era of deep institutional mistrust? There’s some truth to the critique.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

And with that, the WEF co-chair doubled down on his superiority complex and said that Davos needed to be part of everyone’s life.

“We need the mountain [Davos] to visit everyone — to be a part of everyone’s life. In fact, that’s why I agreed to take on this roll after Klaus Schwab”

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

“For all the caricatures of this forum, the people who come here — the people I know — aren’t here to congratulate themselves, aren’t here to pat themselves on the back; they’re not here to protect their own comforts“

Larry Fink, WEF Annual Meeting, January 2026

Fink said that he agreed to become interim co-chair of the WEF after founder Klaus Schwab went away because, “There was an opportunity to make this forum more transparent, and I thought this was the surest way to rebuild trust.”

That means that all of Schwab’s and the WEF’s previous efforts to rebuild trust had failed, as The Sociable pointed out in 2024.

Rebuilding Trust? Definitely not there.

Then there’s the promise to listen to those outside the forum while simultaneously blocking engagement on social media.

A Spirit of Dialogue? Not so much.

And beyond social media, news outlets that weren’t invited to Davos, like Rebel News and Vox Populi, showed up anyway and tried to speak with Fink and other attendees outside between sessions, but were mostly given the cold shoulder.

One may chalk up the elites’ hesitance to speak to these outlets because of their tactics of bombarding them with questions and accusations as they walk from one building to another.

But how else can reporters, who aren’t invited to the club, come face-to-face and confront the most powerful and influential people on the planet?

While it makes for interesting video content and gets a lot of clicks, there’s nothing really to quote from pursed lips.

However, it does reveal the hypocrisy of the spirit of dialogue that Fink and the WEF claim to embrace.

Klaus Schwab said back in 2022, “We welcome a diversity of ideas, expressed in the spirit of respectful discourse and dialogue.”

But when it came to listening to outside voices, he said, “There is no place for the frivolous fringe that seeks to distract and divert attention ­– and I condemn it wholeheartedly – particularly of those who have nothing to do with the World Economic Forum community and just [sic] to Davos to hijack our brand.” 

In the spirit of dialogue, the WEF continues to restrict engagement on X and refuses to engage with those outside the club — that “frivolous fringe.”

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Image Source: Screenshot of Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, January 20, 2026