Seven years after the arrival of 4G, EE has finally switched on the UK’s first 5G networks in six UK cities – and more are coming. The upgrade promises much faster data connections but conspiratorially-minded online activists are convinced that the new technology will bring with it something much more sinister than an end to video buffering.

On social media, forums and online blogs, anti-5G activists are attributing a bewildering range of maladies to 5G, including cancer, infertility, autism and Alzheimer’s. In November 2018, a viral Facebook post blamed a 5G test mast for the mysterious death of 300 birds in the Netherlands (the test actually took place months earlier), while people in anti-5G groups share tips on how to smash down telephone masts. But how did an incremental upgrade in mobile networks turn into the internet’s favourite new conspiracy theory?


Perhaps the most prominent lynchpin in the anti-5G movement is John Kuhles – a Dutch UFO researcher who founded the “Stop5G” Facebook group in 2018. The group, which now has more than 20,000 members, was the ground zero of the bird death myth, and other theories, including one suggesting that the Californian wildfires in November 2018 were a punishment by the “ruling elite” because of the state’s failure to roll out “mass 5G”.

Kuhles’ main group has inspired local spinoffs, including “Stop 5G UK”, which has 13,000 members, and countless smaller groups that worry about 5G being rolled out in their own city or town. In Glastonbury residents have already appealed to the local council to halt EE’s plans to rollout 5G at the music festival later this month. On Twitter, anti-5G acolytes share posts around the hashtag #Stop5G while on Instagram accounts share questionable images of people in hazmat suits working on what are supposed to be 5G masts.

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Despite this, there is no solid evidence that 5G – or any mobile communications network – can have a harmful effect on human health. The upgrade is based on similar technology to preceding mobile networks, and so far no study has found a link between mobile phones and cancer, although research into the area is ongoing.

But that hasn't held back the anti-5G movement, which started ramping up in earnest in 2018 when major mobile networks were starting to roll-out their 5G trials in earnest. Since May 2018, RT America, the US arm of the Russian broadcaster has has aired more than a dozen news segments warning of cancer, nosebleeds, and other health risks using sensationalist phrases such as ”5G apocalypse” or “an experiment on humanity”, telling viewers 5G “might kill you”. Whether or not these form part of a disinformation campaign by the Russians against the US in the global race to introduce 5G networks, as suggested in a recent New York Times article, RT America’s claims have fuelled existing consumer concerns and have been picked up by hundreds of smaller news sites and blogs in the last couple of months.


But fears around radiowave radiation of the sort used in the mobile industry are nothing new. “The actual conspiracy theories are kind of rehashed from 4G and everything else before,” says David Grimes, a physicist, cancer researcher and science writer. High-voltage power lines and mobile phones, he says, already caused health concerns in the late 1980s and 90s, when they were linked with brain tumours and other cancers – claims that have been extensively researched, and debunked, by scientists over the last few decades.

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In the UK, for instance, the number of mobile phone users increased 500 per cent between the 1990s and 2016, while the number of brain tumour diagnoses only went up by 34 per cent, an increase that is attributed to better detection and reporting. “What we are seeing now is a slight repackaging of [theories], but that is not surprising because we see that with vaccinations as well,” says Grimes. Every time a new vaccine comes out, he explains, old myths about different vaccines are repackaged and pushed out. And like many new technologies, 5G sparks concerns even though the underlying technology is largely identical to 4G.

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RT America and many online discussions refer to the emitted signals as “radiation”, seemingly associating them with ionising rays at the far end of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as X-rays and ultraviolet rays, which can break apart DNA and trigger genetic mutations that lead to cancer. But not all radiation is bad. The low-energy radio waves used in telecommunications lie at the opposite end of the spectrum with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. And they bear an unfitting name. “Microwave radiation as a concept is very misunderstood. Where people get mixed up is when they think of microwaves, they think of a microwave heater,” says Grimes, and adds that, because people rely but do not fully understand how the technology works, there is a gap of misunderstanding and misinformation.


Joseph Uscinski, a University of Miami professor and editor of the book Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, says these beliefs chime with people who are already prone to believing in conspiracy theories. “For people who already believe in a lot of conspiracy theories, every new thing is just going to fit into their paradigm,” he says. ”People who are buying into this 5G stuff are probably people who have very high levels of conspiracy thinking. When they seek out information, they will go to places that cater to their beliefs.”

While conspiracies generally tend to diffuse slower than scientific news, online they may well spread further and faster. A study in the scientific journal Science found that false news was 70 per cent more likely to be retweeted than true stories. “It is much easier for people to find that kind of information and find it compelling, and more importantly, find a community around it that makes them feel like they belong to a group of people that have figured out the truth,” says John Kelly, CEO of Graphika. His New York-based social media analysis firm analysed online discussions around 5G and found they were mostly focused on health effects of the technology. Conspiratorial content, Kelly says, is primarily pushed by social media accounts that also promote narratives about anti-vaccination, flat Earth or chemtrails.

There is an abundance of misinformation available online: if an individual searches whether microwave radiation is carcinogenic, various dubious websites will confirm those fears. Google’s search results will often point users to the most sensationalist – and factually dubious – information out there. To put it simply, it’s easier for people to absorb the information that’s close at hand than it is for them to reach for more reliable content. And that’s the main problem, according to Grimes. “The biggest single thing individuals can do is to learn how to part a reputable source from a non-reputable one,” he says.

But teaching and courses in critical thinking could offer a solution. “We can learn from the scientific method. Our default position should always be scepticism,” says Grimes. But this will require a sea change in the way both young and adult generations think about the world.

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Uscinski warns, however, blaming the spread of conspiracy theories on the internet alone would be an oversimplification. “We have had conspiracies, extremism and conspiracy-driven violence long before there was an internet. The internet may spread an idea quickly, but the willingness for people to believe in it is already there.” He points out that more than half of the US population believed in assassination conspiracy theories shortly after president John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963. To avoid conspiracy theories getting out of hand, he stresses government officials, industry and the media should be prepared to tell the public when information is wrong.

And that might just be working. In response to the worried residents of Glastonbury, EE – the first mobile network operator to have launched 5G in the UK – has reached out to the local council and offered to take part in community meetings. The company says it also responding to social media posts and letters expressing health concerns, reaching out to the public via traditional media, and has published a dedicated blog to address people with fears about 5G. Howard Jones, head of network communications at EE says: ”It is hugely important that we are on record setting the record straight because without the voice from us and the industry to explain what this [technology] really is, then the misinformation is left unchecked.”

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