How anti-5G anger sparked a wave of arson attacks
Conspiracy theory-fueled opposition to the technology
bubbled online for years. Then the coronavirus outbreak hit.
By LAURENS
CERULUS 4/29/20, 6:40 PM CET Updated 5/1/20, 4:50 AM CET
Hanna
Linderstål wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole of anti-5G theories would go.
The
Stockholm-based researcher had been studying online groups opposed to the new
technology for years. Then she watched as the movement reached a tipping point
earlier this year amid the coronavirus outbreak — spilling into criminality
with a spate of arson attacks against telecom masts.
In the
space of just a couple of weeks, more than 60 masts have been hit by arson
attacks in the U.K. It prompted Boris Johnson's office to condemn the attacks
as caused by a “crazed conspiracy theory” and "putting lives at
risk."
On the
Continent, the Netherlands is the hardest-hit country with 22 arson attacks and
three attempted attacks linked to 5G concerns. Ireland has seen three such
attacks, Cyprus has seen two and Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Finland have all
seen at least one, recent figures from industry associations ETNO and GSMA
showed.
The outrage
behind these attacks — fear that 5G radiation causes health problems — has been
bubbling away on the internet ever since the technology became viable.
"Everybody is really scared. Everybody is an easy
target" — Hanna Linderstål, Stockholm-based researcher
But it was
only this year, when anti-5G groups started spreading rumors that the
technology had caused the coronavirus outbreak, that things turned ugly.
Online
ravings escalated into physical harassment of telecom engineers and torchings
of "base station" sites of antennas — masts and internet connections
worth hundreds of thousands of euros.
"People
see these clips and they get angry," Linderstål said in a video call.
"Everybody is really scared. Everybody is an easy target."
For
Linderstål, the disinformation and conspiracies surrounding 5G have been around
for years. She co-founded a boutique intelligence firm called Earhart that's
been tracking misinformation on 5G since 2018 on social media platforms like
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and, more recently, the booming video-sharing app
TikTok.
Her firm
tracks groups ranging from environmentalists concerned about the ecological
impact of 5G to online channels devoted purely to misinformation and nonsense.
"Half
of the clips feature people that claim to be doctors and scientists, and half
of the clips are people filming cell towers next to dead birds and so on,"
Linderstål said.
The
creators "are really good at presenting the information. They make a
compelling narrative. It's like a good movie clip," she added.
Anti-5G
warriors switch gears
Opposition
to 5G started with environmental and other groups raising concerns about
health. It echoed earlier movements going back to the rollout of 3G and 4G
networks warning of long-term effects of radiation on the human body.
Little
evidence exists linking cell phone radiation to health problems, the World
Health Organization underlines in its evaluation: "To date, and after much
research performed, no adverse health effect has been causally linked with
exposure to wireless technologies," it said, adding that "so far,
only a few studies have been carried out at the frequencies to be used by
5G."
The absence
of long-term studies has fueled community opposition to mobile phone system
infrastructure such as antenna towers.
The
opposition has largely coalesced around Stop 5G groups on social media, which
successfully pushed some authorities to start investigating health effects from
the technology. In France, the health authority launched an inquiry in January.
In Brussels, home of the EU's main institutions, the local government imposed
environmental limits making it effectively impossible for operators to roll out
5G.
While those
groups started a debate, they also laid the groundwork for 5G coronavirus
conspiracy theories, which ultimately led to people torching masts.
"There's
been a discussion and very extensive research on this. There have been
unfounded concerns being expressed by segments of society for some time ...
What you saw with corona is an increase of misinformation [including] the idea
that coronavirus exists because of 5G, that it is a direct effect of 5G,"
said Joakim Reiter, external affairs director for Vodafone Group.
"It
became so ludicrous and yet it traveled so quickly," Reiter said.
Tech giants
have taken action in past weeks to slow down the sharing of conspiracy
theories. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, limited how users can forward messages
to large groups of people. YouTube, owned by Google, this week expanded its
fact-checking program, citing concerns of coronavirus misinformation as a key
reason. Facebook expanded its work with fact-checking organizations in April.
The World Health Organization now lists 5G at the top
of its coronavirus mythbusters page to help fight misinformation during the
pandemic.
Still,
telecoms executives warned anti-5G groups continued to thrive during the
pandemic.
In
Bulgaria, the Stop 5G groups used the pandemic to mobilize people against the
new technology, according to Janet Zaharieva, chief regulatory adviser for
local operator Vivacom.
"They
misused what happened with the coronavirus and used the coronavirus as an
accelerator for them, to attract new followers," she said.
In Sweden,
where there has been one arson incident, small local protest groups have also
seized the momentum.
"Now
they try to tag [the pushback] onto the international discussion on
corona," said Tommy Ljunggren of Sweden's main IT and telecoms industry
association IT&Telekomföretagen.
Beyond the
older anti-5G online groups, researchers warned that others are misusing
widespread public fear of coronavirus to boost the spread of 5G conspiracies.
Facebook
has become a popular platform for spreading misinformation about 5G and the
coronavirus
"Some of [the activity] is typical behavior of
trolls trying to make money out of clicks. They choose a topic that is very
popular," said Linderstål.
Case in
point: In late January, an invite-only Facebook group called “Coronavirus the
real truth” was set up and quickly descended into spreading falsehoods and
rumors about the global pandemic. Yet by late April, when almost 600 people had
signed up, the group abruptly changed its name to “5G the real truth,” and
began spreading the theories linking COVID-19 to 5G, according to a review of
these social media posts by POLITICO.
Authorities
try to push back
As the
attacks gathered pace, telecoms industry groups took an interest in the work of
Linderstål's Earhart, and other people who have been researching 5G-related
conspiracy theories. Industry association GSMA has used the findings to alert
authorities and global health officials to the danger of more attacks.
The World
Health Organization now lists 5G at the top of its coronavirus mythbusters page
to help fight misinformation during the pandemic, and the European Commission
says on its website that "there is no connection between 5G and
COVID-19," and cites "no evidence that 5G is harmful to people’s
health."
But the
official dismissal of the claims has so far failed to stop the spread of the
disinformation, telecom industry officials warned.
“We must
stop disinformation linking 5G to COVID-19 from harming our critical
communications networks and frontline engineers when we need them most,” GSMA
and its local European association ETNO said in a joint emailed statement.
The Stop 5G groups have bombarded local mayoral
offices with letters warning of alleged health risks, including linking the
technology to outbreaks of coronavirus.
Zaharieva,
of Bulgaria's Vivacom, said her company is concerned with local political
resistance against the next-generation networks. The Stop 5G groups have
bombarded local mayoral offices with letters warning of alleged health risks,
including linking the technology to outbreaks of coronavirus in Wuhan, China
and in the north of Italy.
"Local
authorities provide the permits for base stations," she said, adding that
operators fear local politicians could halt the rollout of new networks due to
fears that it would harm them politically.
Linderstål,
the disinformation researcher, said governments should get down to the level of
the local protest groups on social media in order to counter the falsehoods.
"You
have to publish information in the channels where these conversations are
happening," she said. "You can't publish your response in the papers,
you have to engage in the channel where kids are reading it."
Mark Scott contributed reporting.
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