Feds warn of more attacks against telecom workers and cellular antenna towers by extremists who believe bogus theory that 5G technology spreads coronavirus

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American telecommunications companies are being warned by the Department of Homeland Security that extremists, fueled by a conspiracy theory linking 5G cellular networks and the coronavirus, may escalate attacks against employees and infrastructure.

The warning comes after dozens of incidents were reported in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, where vandals damaged cellular antennas and made threats to telecom workers over unfounded fears that the coronavirus was being spread through 5G technology.

‘We assess conspiracy theories linking the spread of COVID-19 to the expansion of the 5G cellular network are inciting attacks against the communications infrastructure globally and that these threats probably will increase as the disease continues to spread, including calls for violence against telecommunications workers,’ a DHS memo reads.

The federal government is warning telecommunications companies that cell phone towers and employees could be targeted by extremists fueled by a debunked conspiracy linking 5G mobile technology to the spread of the novel coronavirus. A 5G antenna is seen above in Duesseldorf, Germany, in January

‘Violent extremists have drawn from misinformation campaigns online that claim wireless infrastructure is deleterious to human health and helps spread COVID-19, resulting in a global effort by like-minded individuals to share operational guidance and justification for conducting attacks against 5G infrastructure, some of which have already prompted arson and physical attacks against cell towers in several US states.’

The contents of the DHS memo were reported by ABC News.

Telecom firms were warned after dozens of arson attacks on 5G towers were reported in the United Kingdom, Holland, and Belgium last month.

‘During the COVID-19 pandemic, Western Europe has seen increasing attacks against equipment and workers, and these attacks are plots to damage 5G towers often linked to unsupported theories alleging a link between 5G and the virus,’ a US official told The Washington Post on Wednesday.

5G networks will rely on denser arrays of small antennas and the cloud to offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks and serve as critical infrastructure for a range of industries.

By 2025, 1.2 billion people are set to have access to 5G networks - a third of them in China, according to the global wireless trade group GSMA.

Moving to new networks promises to enable new mobile services and even whole new business models, but could pose challenges for countries and industries unprepared to invest in the transition.

Popular beliefs and conspiracy theories that wireless communications pose a threat have long been around, but the global spread of the virus at the same time that countries were rolling out fifth generation wireless technology has seen some of those false narratives amplified.

The federal government’s warning comes on the heels of reports that several arson and vandalism attacks against 5G infrastructure have been carried out in the US already.

The image above shows a man using his cell phone in front of graffiti that reads '5G Kills' in New York City on May 10

‘Since December 2019, unidentified actors conducted at least five arson incidents targeting cell towers in Memphis, Tenn., that resulted in more than $100,000 in damages,’ the DHS reports say.

‘Additionally, 14 cell towers in western Tennessee, between February and April, were purposely turned off by way of disabling their electrical breakers.’

The report added: ‘In April, arsonists set fire to a major cell tower in Portland, Ore., damaging electrical components at the base of the structure.’

US intelligence officials said the conspiracy theory has been making the rounds on social media.

One Facebook post from April 22 ‘encouraged individuals associated with anarchist extremist ideology to commit acts of sabotage by attacking buildings and 5G towers around the world…in furtherance of an “International Day of Sabotage”,’ the bulletin said.

False narratives around 5G and the coronavirus have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media.

From a Belgian doctor to Woody Harrelson: Origins of 5G COVID-19 conspiracy theory explained

In January, a French web site that traffics in conspiracy theories posted a story claiming a link between 5G towers and COVID-19

How did the debunked conspiracy theory linking the novel coronavirus to 5G mobile technology spread like wildfire?

It all began in January, when a French conspiracy webite called Les Moutons Enrages – which is translated as ‘the rabid sheep’ – published a post speculating that the millimeter wave spectrum used by 5G was somehow connected to COVID-19.

The website claimed that there were reports of telecom workers installing 5G towers in Wuhan, China, the city that is believed to be the site of the first outbreak of the disease.

Two days after the French website posted its article, a Belgian doctor gave an interview to a newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws, who repeated the unfounded claim linking 5G towers in Wuhan to the coronavirus.

The doctor who made the claim was a previously unknown general practitioner, Dr. Kris Van Kerckhoven. 

Within hours, the article was taken down, but the damage was done.

Soon afterward, the conspiracy began making the rounds on social media, as Facebook pages started popping up to warn others of the ‘dangers’ of 5G.

Two days later, a little known Belgian doctor, Kris Van Kerckhoven, gave an interview to Het Laatste Nieuws in which he also suggested a link between 5G and COVID-19

The claim then began to spread on social media as Facebook users circulated the debunked theory

One Facebook post that promoted the conspiracy theory is seen above

Several conspiracy-themed videos began to appear on YouTube, though the Google-owned company has vowed to remove any content promoting the claims of a link between 5G and COVID-19.

A number of celebrities even embraced the conspiracy theory, including boxer Amir Khan, singer Anne-Marie, rapper Wiz Khalifa, British rapper M.I.A., actor John Cusack, Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, actor Woody Harrelson, and French actor Juliette Binoche.

Binoche even went so far as to post on Instagram that Bill Gates planned to insert a microchip into COVID-19 vaccines before eventually injecting it into humans in order to track their movements.

Conspiracy theories about 5G being damaging to human health have been pushed for years – well before the coronavirus pandemic.

Some have linked cell phones to brain cancer or mind control. The new 5G technology has also been blamed for killing birds.

Others have suggested, without evidence, that 5G can cause ‘electromagnetic sensitivity’ which results in headaches and a depressed immune system.

The conspiracy theory was even spread by Hollywood celebrities like actors John Cusack (left) and Woody Harrelson (right)

Wiz Khalifa, a popular rapper, also repeated the claim of a link between 5G and COVID-19

French actress Juliette Binoche posted a message on social media saying 'No to 5G' as well as another conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates

Last year, a Florida physicist named Bill Curry published research that was later discredited. It claimed that there was a correlation between the rising frequency of radio waves and tissue damage in the brain.

Experts said Curry’s claims were incorrect since brain tissue was protected from radiation by human skin and skulls.

Nonetheless, the idea took hold and was repeated by Russian television network RT as well as Infowars founder Alex Jones.

Infowars has even sold shirts that say ‘5G KILLS.’ 

Jones has used his platform to push several discredited conspiracy theories, including one which claimed that the victims of the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook were crisis actors paid by the government.

Source: Vox, Coda Story

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They vary widely from claims that the coronavirus is a coverup for 5G deployment to those that say new 5G installations have created the virus.

‘To be concerned that 5G is somehow driving the COVID-19 epidemic is just wrong,’ Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health who chaired a World Health Organization committee that researched cell phone radiation and cancer.

‘I just don’t find any plausible way to link them.’

Anti-5G activists are undeterred.

Susan Brinchman, director of the Center for Electrosmog Prevention, a nonprofit campaigning against ‘environmental electromagnetic pollution,’ says that people have a right to be concerned about 5G and links to COVID-19.

‘The entire 5G infrastructure should be dismantled and turned off,’ she said by email.

But there’s no evidence that wireless communications - whether 5G or earlier versions - harm the immune system, said Myrtill Simko, scientific director of SciProof International in Sweden, who has spent decades researching the matter.

The current wave of 5G theories dates back to January, when a Belgian doctor suggested a link to COVID-19.

Older variations were circulating before that, mostly revolving around cellphone radiation causing cancer, spreading on Reddit forums, Facebook pages and YouTube channels.

Even with daily wireless use among vast majority of adults, the National Cancer Institute has not seen an increase in brain tumors.

The theories gained momentum in 2019 from Russian state media outlets, which helped push them into US domestic conversation, disinformation experts say.

Ryan Fox, who tracks disinformation as chief innovation officer at AI company Yonder, said he noticed an abnormal spike last year in mentions around 5G across Russian state media, with most of the narratives playing off people’s fears around 5G and whether it could cause cancer.

‘Were they the loudest voice at that time and did they amplify this conspiracy enough that it helped fuel its long-term success? Yes,’ he said.

The conspiracy theories have also been elevated by celebrities including actor Woody Harrelson who shared a video claiming people in China were taking down a 5G tower.

It was actually a Hong Kong ‘smart lamppost’ cut down by pro-democracy protesters in August over China surveillance fears.

British TV host Eamonn Holmes gave credence to the theories on a talk show, drawing a rebuke from regulators.

‘I want to be very clear here,’ European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said in April, as the arson toll rose daily.

‘There is no geographic or any other correlation between the deployment of 5G and the outbreak of the virus.’

EXPLAINED: THE EVOLUTION OF MOBILE BROADBAND UP TO 5G

The evolution of the G system started in 1980 with the invention of the mobile phone which allowed for analogue data to be transmitted via phone calls.   

Digital came into play in 1991 with 2G and SMS and MMS capabilities were launched. 

Since then, the capabilities and carrying capacity for the mobile network has increased massively. 

More data can be transferred from one point to another via the mobile network quicker than ever.

5G is expected to be 100 times faster than the currently used 4G. 

Whilst the jump from 3G to 4G was most beneficial for mobile browsing and working, the step to 5G will be so fast they become almost real-time. 

That means mobile operations will be just as fast as office-based internet connections.

Potential uses for 5g include: 

• Simultaneous translation of several languages in a party conference call 
• Self-driving cars can stream movies, music and navigation information from the cloud
• A full length 8GB film can be downloaded in six seconds. 

5G is expected to be so quick and efficient it is possible it could start the end of wired connections.  

By the end of 2020, industry estimates claim 50 billion devices will be connected to 5G.

The evolution of from 1G to 5G. The predicted speed of 5G is more than 1Gbps - 1,000 times greater than the existing speed of 4G and could be implemented in laptops of the future