The conspiracy theories regarding a possible link between the Coronavirus and 5G technology are continuing to circulate, resulting in new extremes of murder threats and social media censorship.
Even though the scientific community has widely condemned and disputed any link between 5G technologies and the spread of the Coronavirus, the conspiracies have continued.
5G Engineers Threatened
Things have gotten so bad in the UK that engineers working on 5G towers have been reporting an increasing number of abuse cases against them.
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According to the BBC, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents nearly 40,000 telecoms engineers, said that engineers had been threatened with violence and even death. Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the CWU stated;
“We’ve actually had cases where people have been threatened with being stabbed, threatened with physical violence and in some cases actually threatened with murder,”
There has been a spate of attacks on 5G masts by conspiracy theorists who believe the radio wave signals emitted can suppress the immune system, thus making people more susceptible to catching the virus. Another wild and scientifically disputed theory is that the virus can be transmitted through 5G signals.
The report shares the experiences of a number of engineers who have been abused, threatened, had objects thrown at them while working, and had their vehicles damaged.
Social media is largely responsible for the dissemination of these theories as platforms such as Facebook are largely unmoderated and immune from responsibility.
The nature of the social media information bubble only reinforces what people want to believe by showing them more of the same stuff and not opposing arguments or theories, in this case pure science.
Twitter Censors 5G Conspiracies
Social media platform Twitter has taken action by censoring content it deems to be harmful. AFP reported that the micro-blogging platform agreed to remove content that calls for the destruction or damage of 5G hardware as a result of these unfounded notions.
The Twitter ‘safety team’, which is responsible for content control, stated;
“We have broadened our guidance on unverified claims that incite people to engage in harmful activity, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder,”
The censorship comes as social media platforms come under increasing scrutiny for allowing misinformation about Covid-19 to spread.
Facebook has also taken action to prevent fanatical groups spreading false information and inciting criminal damage. The social media giant said that it has begun removing false claims that 5G technology causes the symptoms of or contraction of Covid-19.
