The Dubious 5G Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory Gains Momentum

As our world comes to a halt and the ongoing global pandemic affects more and more aspects of our lives, some disturbing and dangerous connections are being drawn. After the Huawei and 5G controversy, a hotly debated subject throughout the past year (link my article), intensified tensions between China and some parts of the Western world, conspiracists throughout our countries are linking the new technology to the Coronavirus epidemic, with many different theories being thrown around. Not only are these conspiracies misinformation and dangerous, they might have a deeper and scarier facet.

Conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 disease have been there ever since the epidemic gained some media attention. In our post-truth age, they spread faster than the virus itself through often uneducated and isolated individuals who can always find ways to comfort their beliefs online. Social media sites like Twitter and Reddit are hotbeds for this secondary epidemic and birth many different conspiracy theories, every new one more far-fetched than its predecessor. They can range from beliefs that the government is hiding a vaccine to the virus being a bioweapon to the virus not even existing at all! As we go through the first major pandemic in our hyper-connected world, an event of global scale affecting everyone sheds light on the new search for hidden knowledge or secrets fueled by internet forums. While such tinfoil conspiracies might seem benign at first, they can have some serious implications. Misinformation spreads to the point that it is becoming harder to find the truth about what really is going on. When the US president himself, a master of post-truth pushes a harmful drug or makes false statements about medical supplies, very real damage is done in this time of crisis.

Most of these conspiracies are generated by society-wide anxiety, lack of education and online discussions. They are carried out by disorganized communities and individuals trying to make sense of the pandemic. However, more recently, one type of conspiracy has risen above them all: the one linking the Coronavirus with 5G technology. It has gained a lot of traction on social media, with some public figures even endorsing it. In the details, it takes many forms. For some, the new 5G towers are spreading the virus. For others, the virus is a hoax designed to keep the population inside while dangerous 5G towers are being installed in secret. Throughout these stories, one thing is constant; 5G and the virus are connected. This theory is backed by maps comparing locations of 5G towers and the spread of the virus (which is just a factor of population density), linking correlation to causation. This conspiracy has already had dangerous consequences, as in the UK some cellular towers have been set on the fire, limiting communications for essential emergency services amid this crisis. However, the reason this conspiracy is far more disturbing and potentially harmful than the others is the way it was created and is sustained. Various disinformation specialists have analyzed the online evolution of the theory and have concluded that this looks like a coordinated campaign. Fake accounts are being used, activity is being raised at critical time to attain maximal impact… This theory is not of the organic tinfoil kind developed by uneducated lunatics. There is an organized incentive to push this narrative throughout the online community. Even more disturbing is the style of this coordination. Marc Owen Jones (researcher at a university in Qatar) claims the patterns used to spread this misinformation are very similar to the ones used in the 2016 US election misinformation campaign and could be indicative of state-backed activity.

In this time of crisis, dangerous conspiracy theories are unsurprisingly surfacing at a very high rate. However, the one linking 5G and the virus is much more alarming. Indeed, with is coordination and patterns, it seems to pursue a different goal than to just scare people/spread misinformation. Indeed, we must not forget that 5G was a very touchy subject even before this pandemic. When the Trump administration banned Huawei (the front-runner of 5G development and a company heavily linked with the Chinese state) from the US and discouraged European allies to adopt the technology last summer, China-USA tensions rose to an all-time high. Now, this conspiracy actively aims to demonize 5G in the public eye and bears similarity to the disinformation campaign that (purposefully or not) helped Trump attain the presidency in 2016. Could this be an effort to further the narrative that 5G is harmful to reach bigger geopolitical goals? We should remember that the UK went against Trump’s advice to not install 5G technology, and now its masts are being burned down. Without delving too much into conspiracy theories ourselves, it is important to keep in mind that these are troubling times, in which it is especially easy to spread misinformation. As the pandemic develops, there will be more opportunities for exploitation of the situation and in our post-truth world, sticking to the truth is more important than ever.