Due to conspiracy theories spreading on social networks about the connection between 5G network deployment and the coronavirus pandemic, unidentified people began to set fire to 5G towers in Britain.

Last week, an arson attack was recorded in Liverpool, Birmingham, and the village of Melling near Sefton, Merseyside. However, not all equipment destroyed as a result of the arson was even connected with 5G. In particular, the British mobile network operator EE confirmed that a tower that provided 2G, 3G, and 4G communications caught fire in Birmingham.

Groups on social networks, in particular, Facebook groups, became the source of misinformation. The theory that the novel coronavirus appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan became very popular because it began to deploy a 5G network there at the beginning of the year. Supposedly, now the new generation of mobile Internet contributes to the spread of COVID-19.

Proponents of this conspiracy theory believe that electromagnetic radiation suppresses the human immune system, thereby helping viruses and bacteria enter the body.

The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said on Twitter that there is no reliable evidence of the connection between 5G and the coronavirus outbreak.

Moreover, at the moment, no scientifically based facts could link the spread of the new coronavirus or any other virus with the networks of mobile operators, including 5G.

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