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It’s a scene that has been repeated dozens of times in recent weeks in Europe, where officials are rejecting conspiracy theories linking the new 5G mobile networks and the coronavirus pandemic are fueling incendiary attacks on cell towers.
Popular beliefs and conspiracy theories that wireless communications pose a threat have been around for a long time, but the global spread of the virus at the same time that countries were implementing fifth-generation wireless technology has amplified some of those false narratives. .
Officials in Europe and the United States are watching the situation closely, concerned that the attacks weaken vital telecommunication links at a time when they are most needed to deal with the pandemic.
“I am absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted, because people would take action against the infrastructure we need to respond to this health emergency,” said Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service in England, in early April.
About 50 fires in cell towers and other equipment have been reported this month in Britain, leading to three arrests. Telecommunications engineers have been abused on the job 80 times, according to the Mobile UK trade group, making the UK the heart of the attacks. Photos and videos documenting the attacks often overlap with false comments about COVID-19. Some 16 have been set on fire in the Netherlands, with attacks also reported in Ireland, Cyprus and Belgium.
Posts threatening to attack phone masts received likes on Facebook. An anti-vaccine group post on April 12 shared a photo of a burned-out telephone pole with the quote: “No one wants cancer and covid19. Stop trying to make this happen or every pole and mobile store will end up like this.”
The trend received additional attention in Britain when one of the towers that provided a Birmingham field hospital treating coronavirus patients was one of the targets.
“It is so heartbreaking that families cannot be at the bedside of their loved ones who are seriously ill,” said Nick Jeffery, CEO of wireless operator Vodafone UK, on LinkedIn. “It is even more annoying that even the small consolation of a phone call or video call can now be denied them due to the selfish actions of some deceived conspiracy theorists.”
False narratives about 5G and the coronavirus have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media. They vary widely from claims that coronavirus is a cover-up for 5G deployment to those who say that new 5G installations have created the virus.
“Worrying that 5G is somehow driving the COVID-19 epidemic is just wrong,” said Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, who chaired a committee of the World Health Organization. who investigated cell phone radiation and cancer. “I just can’t find any plausible way to link them.”
Anti-5G activists are not discouraged.
Susan Brinchman, director of the Electrosmog Prevention Center, a nonprofit campaign against “environmental electromagnetic pollution,” says people have a right to worry about 5G and links to COVID-19. “All 5G infrastructure should be decommissioned and shutdown,” he said by email.
But there is no evidence that wireless communications, whether 5G or earlier, harm the immune system, said Myrtill Simko, scientific director of SciProof International in Sweden, who has spent decades researching the matter.
The current wave of 5G theories dates back to January, when a Belgian doctor suggested a link to COVID-19. Older variations circulated before that, primarily around cancer-causing cell phone radiation, spreading on Reddit forums, Facebook pages, and YouTube channels. Even with daily wireless use among the vast majority of adults, the National Cancer Institute has not seen an increase in brain tumors.
According to disinformation experts, theories picked up momentum in 2019 from the Russian state-run media, helping to push them into a national conversation in the US. USA
Ryan Fox, who tracks disinformation as chief innovation officer at artificial intelligence company Yonder, said he noticed an abnormal spike last year in mentions of around 5G in Russian state media, with most narratives minimizing fears. about 5G and if it could cause cancer.
“Were they the loudest voice at the time and amplified this conspiracy enough to help fuel their long-term success? Yes,” he said.
Conspiracy theories have also been raised by celebrities, including actor Woody Harrelson, who shared a video claiming that people in China were taking down a 5G tower. It was actually a Hong Kong “smart streetlight” cut by pro-democracy protesters in August over China’s surveillance fears. British television presenter Eamonn Holmes credited the theories on a talk show, prompting a rebuke from regulators.
“I want to be very clear here,” European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said on Friday as the number of fires increased daily. “There is no geographic or other correlation between the 5G deployment and the virus outbreak.”
