5G telephone masts are going up in the UK, after online conspiracy theories have mistakenly linked cell towers to the coronavirus pandemic. The BBC reports that at least three 5G towers caught fire last week, and police and fire services were called in to extinguish the flames. Rumors and conspiracy theories about a link between the launch of 5G and the spread of the coronavirus. they have spread mainly through social media. There are a variety of groups on Facebook and Nextdoor, where thousands of members repeat false and misleading claims that 5G is supposedly harmful. One theory claims that the new coronavirus originated in Wuhan because the Chinese city had recently launched 5G. Supposedly it has now spread to other cities that also use 5G. These false conspiracy theories fail to mention that a highly contagious virus would naturally spread further in densely populated cities with access to 5G, and that the coronavirus pandemic has hit counties like Iran and Japan, where 5G is not yet in use. scientific evidence linking the coronavirus pandemic to 5G, or any immediate negative health effects from 5G. Full Fact, an independent fact-checking charity in the UK, has explored the claims after a British tabloid recently highlighted them. 5G uses a higher frequency of radio waves than 4G or 3G, but regulators in the UK have recorded 5G electromagnetic radiation levels well below international guidelines.
This is the consequence of those Facebook conspiracy theories about 5G. Key workers are harassed on the street. pic.twitter.com/5z35r6sabp– Charlie Haynes (@charliehtweets) April 2, 2020
However, this has not stopped these wild conspiracy theories from spreading. Some people are even harassing workers laying fiber optic cables for 5G installations, claiming that when 5G is turned on it will “kill everyone”. Mobile networks are classified as critical national infrastructure in the UK, but a Facebook group it was created specifically to encourage people to burn 5G towers. Peter Clarke, an expert on mobile network infrastructure in the UK, reported the group to Facebook but the company was initially unable to remove it. After a surge in attention, the group has been removed, but many others are still available with false information and thousands of people encouraging others to burn 5G towers. British regulator Ofcom also warned Uckfield FM, a community radio station, this week for featuring someone with “potentially damaging statements about the coronavirus.” One guest, identified as a “registered nurse,” appeared on a 20-minute segment in February, claiming that 5G is sucking oxygen out of people’s lungs. The segment also spread the falsehood that 5G and the coronavirus are linked. Clips of the radio show have been widely shared on Facebook since then.
5G causes the coronavirus because it is absorbing oxygen from the lungs, according to a video posted on Facebook. I want to, but the fact that people think this shit is really scary pic.twitter.com/kY3g5MJtu9– Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 3, 2020
Like many conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns, Russia may well be at the heart of 5G health scares. While a large number of Facebook groups have been fueling these theories recently, a New York Times report last year warned that Russian disinformation campaigns were actively exploiting 5G health fears. RT America, a Russian government-funded television network, issued a report more than a year ago in which an RT reporter claimed that 5G “could kill you.” These are the kinds of nonsensical warnings that we are now beginning to see. on Facebook, and they’re clearly compelling enough to cause some to damage vital national infrastructure. All of this is happening just as the UK and many countries around the world are battling the coronavirus pandemic. While medical professionals are busy battling a highly contagious virus, telecommunications and social media workers have to fight a viral spread of equally destructive stupidity online.
