A Fifth-Generation Conspiracy: Social Media Turned 5G Into an Invisible Threat
In mid-May, a video with a provocative message caused yet another whirlwind on social media. This one-minute recording showed a man in protective gear standing next to a telecommunications tower. The man introduced himself as an engineer, adding that in recent weeks, he had been installing 5G equipment around the UK.
Then the author of the video makes a seemingly sensational revelation. The man turns the camera to his hand while holding a circuit board with an engraving in the upper corner.
"Look, it's a piece of [expletive] 5G kit," he says. "And it says COV-19 on it."
The clip instantly attracted the attention of users not only in Britain, but around Europe. Days after its publication, it had generated tens of thousands of views on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. Some took the video as indisputable proof of the link between 5G technology and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But proponents of this theory were disappointed once again. The board in the man’s hands is not part of a 5G installation kit. According to Reuters, it was taken from an old TV box. The engraved inscription isn’t authentic either, the agency reports. Still, the debunking of another sensational false story could not put an end to one of the most popular conspiracies of the global health crisis.
Rumours have been circulated online for months now that the phased construction of 5G networks in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States has contributed to the spread of COVID-19, a disease that has now affected more than 10 million people and killed more than 500,000 people. (data as of Monday, June 29). Opponents of this technology believe not only that it has worsened the pandemic by compromising people’s immune systems, but also that 5G actually allows the coronavirus to drift through the air.
Despite the efforts of governments, health experts, and the media to quell such myths, public distrust of 5G networks continues to grow, and unfounded claims regarding their alleged fatal side effects have sparked protests, scandals, and acts of vandalism to cell towers