He began to explain how the conspiracy theory 5G and COVID-19 was born: designed for the greatest number of people to trust

Lithuanians also believed

Lithuanians even started photographing new 5G communication antennas. Some believed that the quarantine was announced so that we could be at home and not see the bad guys hand over the antennas that are causing the COVID-19 outbreaks.

Others have decided that COVID-19 vaccines are supposed to have a “chip” that will be activated by the 5G connection and will allow the world’s poor elite to control people.

If you think that only a few people in Lithuania do, you are wrong. To find out what people think about 5G, the European Association of Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) has commissioned surveys in 23 European countries. It is true that Lithuania was not among them; This oversight was corrected by the Telia telecommunications company and a similar representative survey was carried out in Lithuania.

It turned out that 13 percent. Lithuanians believe that 5G is related to COVID-19. And in other European countries, 6% think so. population.

Delphi has already written that electromagnetic radiation cannot cause a viral infection. In April 2020, the director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and AIDS, prof. Saulius Čaplinskas patiently explained that there is no scientific evidence that the 5G link causes the new coronavirus.

“It is not surprising that when a new and incomprehensible threat arises, there is always a lot of interest and various myths. Hard to say, perhaps this myth may have been sparked by a Belgian doctor who speculated that because a 5G connection is being installed in Uhane, a virus originated there. He shared this on social media, he began to share such a conspiracy theory with each other. Well, as proof that this is not the case, it may be the same Iran where the coronavirus is spreading fast, and there is not, and there is much talk about any 5G connection and the Internet in general, ”said the professor this time. .

Scientists around the world were particularly interested in this conspiracy theory, in which people believed so fiercely that in Britain they started setting 5G communications antennas on fire or threatening antennas with supervised workers. The conspiracy theory spread so quickly that even the European Commission denied it.

What the researchers found

Last spring, Marc Owen Jones, a researcher at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar who specializes in online disinformation networks, analyzed 22,000 recent Twitter interactions that mentioned 5G and Crown, and reported finding numerous accounts involved, like himself. He himself says, “inauthentic activity”. . He argues that these actions have certain characteristics of a state sponsored campaign.

“There are very clear indications that some of these accounts are part of a disinformation operation,” Jones told Bloomberg.

According to him, the campaign uses a strategy similar to the Russian Internet Research Agency, which organized a disinformation campaign in 2016. During the US presidential campaign. However, the investigator says that he has not yet concluded that Russia or any other government or organization is behind these actions.

The Conversation also published a study to find out how the conspiracy theory linking 5G and COVID-19 came about. Four researchers: Marc Tuters, Associate Professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Amsterdam, Peter Knight, Professor of American Studies at the University of Manchester, Wasim Ahmed, Professor of Digital Business at the University of Newcastle, and Joesph Downing, A nationalist researcher at the London School of Economics, he conducted a study in April last year that spread this conspiracy theory.

They were able to identify the creation of a special Twitter account @ 5gcoronavirus19 with 383 followers. It was his account that spread the 5G and COVID-19 conspiracy theory. This account became an influential popularizer of the conspiracy theory. The account sent 303 “tweets” spreading the conspiracy theory in seven days. The account manager often tagged then-US President Donald Trump in his messages. According to the researchers, this theory is supported by the extreme right movement Alt-right.

“From the margins” gathers followers

According to Delfi, professor at the VU Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences dr. Nerijus Maliukevičius, conspiracy theories have been analyzed since the Cold War, when the KGB actively spread misinformation. For example, he has tried to convince people that the AIDS virus was developed in a US military laboratory as a biological weapon to fight third world countries.

Such conspiracy theories have been actively disseminated, says Dr. N. Maliukevičius that analysts have developed a classification of such theories.

One of the groups is “Invisible Threat Theories”. According to the interlocutor, this group includes conspiracy theories that spread misinformation about radiation, allegedly where a disaster occurred at a nuclear power plant. “There was a theory that NATO supposedly left a depleted uranium graveyard in Europe after the Kosovo campaign. They are theories that have an invisible threat that is very scary, intangible, evokes emotions and people react very emotionally ”, explains the expert.

Another group combines conspiracy theories about “absolute evil.” Dr. To describe this group, N. Maliukevičius recalls the melancholy that spread in Germany because the Russian-speaking girl Lisa was raped by emigrants. This rumor was so unleashed that people took to the streets to protest. The scientist recalls that a similar false message was spread in Lithuania: NATO soldiers allegedly raped a girl near Jonava.

“And the third group that is related to 5G is of technogenic origin. These are complicated theories of technological conspiracy. Neva: Understand, you don’t know all the facts, if you knew, you would understand what this and that really is, ”explains Dr. N. Maliukevičius.

According to him, this group also includes the conspiracy theory, which states that the terrorist attack of September 11 was not carried out by terrorists, but by the US government itself. People who believe in this conspiracy theory find various “evidence”: supposedly watch the videos, you will see that there were controlled explosions, and behind that is the government. “They are conspiracy theories that are masked by knowledge, supposedly by arguments that are hidden under nine locks, but if you knew, you would understand. And it is said that all this is controlled by some global elite or similar ”, says the interlocutor.

But the COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theory is a mix of two types of conspiracy theories, says Dr. N. Maliukevičius. Note that in this conspiracy theory we also see some invisible threat (virus) and a technogenic perspective: supposedly controlled by a pandemic, there are “chips”, Bill Gates is to blame for everything, etc.

Dr. N. Maliukevičius agrees that the conspiracy theory, supposedly 5G is somehow related to COVID-19, it is very inclusive: here we also see the fear of electromagnetic radiation, the fear of technology, the denial of the pandemic, the movement against vaccines, etc. The interviewee notes that this conspiracy theory applies to almost everyone: it gathers followers “from the margins.”

“It is important to understand that conspiracy theories flourish in crisis situations that require great emotional stress. A pandemic is one of those cases. However, many people are overwhelmed by emotions and many times believe those lies.” emphasizes the expert.

Who benefits?

And why is it useful to spread conspiracy theories? Dr. N. Maliukevičius says that we live in an egocentric world ruled by “likes” and “shares”. “If a person creates an attractive theory, even from copying, but gets a large following, it brings the groups together, so one of the reasons may be a simple egocentric search for attention.

There may be additional objectives in addition to this. It can be capitalized. If you look, often those who spread, create those messages or create groups are lifestyle coaches. If you gather a whole group of such followers, look, you will be able to “milk” them a little financially, says Dr. N. Maliukevičius.

And yet other people who spread lies may be politically motivated actors. Dr. N. Maliukevičius recalls the aforementioned case of AIDS: this theory was spread by the Soviet Union. “But we see that even now authoritarian regimes are not reluctant to take advantage of these theories,” says the interlocutor. Conspiracy theories, says the scientist, can also be extended to populists who want to attract voters.

Conspiracy theories are also spread by those who sincerely believe in them. According to the interlocutor, not all people motivate and specifically distribute liars, there are those who believe in them and distribute them out of ignorance or fear.

How to recognize conjecture theories?

The European Commission explains on its website how to recognize conspiracy theories:

1. Check who the author is: who wrote it and why?

This is unlikely to be a conspiracy theory.

• The author is a recognized specialist on the subject
• The author provides verifiable facts and scientific evidence.

Probably a conspiracy theory

• The author declares himself an expert and does not belong to any recognized organization or institution
• The author claims to be a recognized professional, but the evidence he provides does not prove or is no longer valid.

2. Check the source: is it reliable and recognized?

There is little chance

• The source is based on various reliable media
• The information has been confirmed by many scientists.
• The source and its statements are acknowledged on independent research sites.

Probably

• The source of the information is unclear.
• The information is published only by the people who have announced themselves as experts.
• The source is not recognized by independent research sites and its claims are rejected as false.

3. Appreciate the intonation and style: is it sober and formal, or is it dramatic and one-dimensional?

There is a low probability:

• The author does not shy away from talking about the complexity of the situation, he presents different opinions.
• The author acknowledges the limits of his knowledge.
• The intonation is objective, professional.

Believed:

• The author presents the information as the ultimate truth.
• Instead of looking for answers, the author only asks questions.
• The author demonizes those he believes are carrying out a secret conspiracy.
• Intonation is subjective, emotional.
• The statements are illustrated with emotional images or anecdotes.