Jean-Noel Kapferer once quoted, “Rumors are the oldest form of mass media”. Amid this Covid crisis the gossips related to the 5G conspiracy has surfaced again. We inhabit in the 21st century and we are possibly dependent on everything which entails the term, ‘Science & Technology’.
According to Marc Tuters, assistant professor of new media and digital culture at the University of Amsterdam, and Peter Knight, professor of American studies at the University of Manchester, conspiracy theories about mobile phone technology have been circulating since the 1990s, and have long historical roots. Doctors first talked of “radiophobia” as early as 1903. Following on from fears about power lines and microwaves in the 1970s, opponents of 2G technology in the 1990s suggested that radiation from mobile phones could cause cancer, and that this information was being covered up. Other conspiracy theories about 5G include the idea that it was responsible for the unexplained deaths of birds and trees. The coronavirus 5G conspiracy theory comes in several different strains, of varying degrees of implausibility.
One of the first versions of the theory claimed that it was no coincidence that 5G-technology was trialed in Wuhan, where the pandemic began. This is certainly not true, as 5G was already being rolled out in number of locations. Some claim that the coronavirus crisis was deliberately created in order to keep people at home while 5G engineers install the technology everywhere. Others insist that 5G radiation weakens people’s immune systems, making them more vulnerable to infection by Covid-19. Another mutation of the 5G conspiracy theory asserts that 5G directly transmits the virus. These different 5G stories are often combined together with other Covid-19 conspiracy theories into a toxic cocktail of misinformation.
Posts on Twitter and Facebook have emerged time and again from user accounts of different nationalities. One such, posted in the “About this group” column for a private Facebook group, which reads, “5G at 60Ghz resonates with the oxygen molecule and gives oxygen a reverse polarity that makes it much less useful to the human body. At high concentrations of 5G usage, you get suffocation of humans at street level. And at lower doses, you get flu-like symptoms which are the exact same symptoms as the flu with this lowered oxygen uptake by the body.” It further adds that “all of Asia turned off their 5G” on a particular day and “left on only their 3G and 4G systems to communicate so they know 5G is the real cause of the illnesses.”
In India, such theories have been spreading through WhatsApp text and audio messages. In one such audio message, a man can be heard stating that testing of 5G networks is the reason why people are dying in states like UP, Maharashtra and Bihar. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has cautioned users about the same and urged them to not believe in any such rumors.
Recently, a video of a person dressed like a mobile phone network engineer and talking about a 5G mast installation kit having the words ‘COV19’ on the circuit board inside it is being shared on social media. He mentions that they have been installing 5G masts on towers while everyone has been in a lockdown and that they were explicitly told not to open those kits. Although, digging up a bit it was found that the video was made by Heydon Prowse, a British activist, journalist and satirist, as a way to ridicule conspiracy theorists who believe that 5G is causing coronavirus. A video titled ‘How To Start a Conspiracy Theory – Heydon Prowse’ was uploaded by channel ‘Don’t Panic London’ on YouTube on 5 June 2020.
WHO has clearly stated under a ‘Myth Busters’ section on their wbsite that the 5G network does not spread coronavirus, as there are countries without 5G network that also have coronavirus cases. Additionally, the Department of Telecommunications, under the Ministry of Communications, published a press release on 10 May 2021, titled ‘No Link between 5G Technology and Spread of COVID-19’.
Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla filed a lawsuit against the launch of 5G in the country, but the Delhi High Court dismissed the claim terming it as an act to gain publicity and charged a fine of Rs. 20 lakh on the actress.
Thus, such rumors are groundless till date and are spread to mislead the public.
