Coronavirus, 5G And Misinformation

We’ve talked about fake news a number of times and as with anything topical, there is a lot of misinformation emerging when it comes to the Coronavirus.

Interestingly, one of the more fascinating theories that is gaining ground is that the virus is caused by 5G. Yuhp, the network infrastructure. It seems the theory has taken off so much so that someone as influential as Keri Hilson recently went on a Twitter tirade claiming that 5G was the cause of the virus:

Why do you think the virus is not happening in Africa like that? Not a 5G region. There may be a few bases there, but not as prevalent as other countries. It has nothing to do w/ melanin

Keri Hilson

This tweet was one of many that the musician tweeted regarding this issue and very quickly her tweets started to trend on the social media site. So how true is this claim that seems to be growing legs quicker than we expected?

Simply put, it’s unfounded. There is no evidence that the 5th generation of wireless network connectivity is harmful to humans.

Full Fact – a fact-checking organisation- explained that the radiation 5G users are exposed to is safe;

As we’ve written about before, there is no evidence that 5G is harmful to humans. 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology, following on from 4G. Like 4G, 3G and 2G before it, 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves—a small part of the whole electromagnetic spectrum (which includes microwaves, visible light and X-rays). These radio waves are non-ionising, meaning they don’t damage the DNA inside cells.

Public Health England has said that there’s no “convincing evidence” that exposure below the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation guidelines can cause adverse health effects. These guidelines go up to 300GHz, whereas the maximum for 5G will probably only be in the tens of GHz.

Full Fact

There have also been maps put into circulation suggesting that major cities with 5G in the USA are the hardest hit.

The problem with this theory is that it bends the truth to suit a narrative. Whilst major cities around the world will be the first to get 5G, this is only because that’s the easiest way for telecoms companies to get a return on their investment.

Major cities can also have an accelerated spread of diseases simply because they have larger populations per square mile. There is no causal relationship between a city having 5G and its inhabitants having Corona.

Outside of the claims regarding 5G and Corona, there have also been those claiming that Bill Gates is behind the Coronavirus claims which like the aforementioned 5G fake stories are unsubstantiated by any evidence.