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Fight fake news linking 5G with coronavirus, European Union members urge

Click to play video: 'Conspiracy theorists burn 5G towers, claiming link to COVID-19'
Conspiracy theorists burn 5G towers, claiming link to COVID-19
Some conspiracy theorists are falsely linking 5G, the fifth generation of wireless mobile technology, to COVID-19 outbreaks. Jeff Semple looks at what started this hoax, how it spread like wildfire on social media, and how it ignited attacks on cellphone towers – May 14, 2020

European Union (EU) nations banking on 5G to boost economic growth are eager to tackle conspiracy theories linking the wireless technology to the spread of the novel coronavirus that have seen masts torched in several places.

According to telecoms lobbying groups ETNO and GSMA, such false claims have resulted in over 140 arson attacks on infrastructure such as mobile phone masts in 10 European countries and assaults on scores of maintenance workers.

READ MORE: There’s no clear proof 5G or cellphones cause cancer. Here’s why some still worry

Britain has seen 87 arson attacks and the Netherlands 30, while cases have also been reported in France, Belgium, Italy and Germany.

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According to an EU document seen by Reuters, member countries emphasized their concern at a video conference between themselves to discuss digital issues last Friday.

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READ MORE: With 5G, data could reach you in as little as a millisecond, 50 times faster than 4G

The Council of EU ministers “expresses the importance of fighting against the spread of misinformation related to 5G networks, with special regard to false claims that such networks constitute a health threat or are linked to COVID-19”, it said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has debunked the claims, saying that viruses cannot travel on radio waves or mobile networks, and that COVID-19 has also spread to countries without 5G mobile networks.

The European Commission, the EU executive, has also rejected such claims. The EU is looking to 5G to help it bounce back from the coronavirus and compete better with the United States and China.

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus outbreak: Federal ministers address acts of vandalism against cell towers in Quebec'
Coronavirus outbreak: Federal ministers address acts of vandalism against cell towers in Quebec

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