Is 5G linked to coronavirus? Here’s what to know about the hoax spreading online

Misinformation is spreading on Facebook and other social media platforms that 5G networks are linked to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 120,000 people worldwide.

There is no evidence that suggests 5G has anything to do with COVID-19, according to numerous fact-checking websites, but it hasn’t stopped people from spreading hoaxes.

In one fake post, a Facebook user said symptoms of 5G radiation include many of the same symptoms of COVID-19, including fever, shortness of breath, and nausea.

Facebook said it would remove false claims linking 5G and COVID-19, according to The Guardian.

Conspiracy videos posted to YouTube suggest 5G was being used by “global elites” to spread coronavirus, according to BuzzFeed. YouTube also said it would remove 5G-coronavirus hoax videos, according to CNet.

The hoaxes may have started in January, when a Belgian doctor suggested the 5G technology could be linked to the virus, according to Wired. The theories gained traction on social media by mid-February, Wired reported.

Celebrities have joined in on spreading theories, too. Actor Woody Harrelson posted on Instagram a fake article that linked 5G to Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus pandemic originated.

He also shared a video which supposedly shows a 5G tower being torn down in China, but the video was not filmed in 2020 “and has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic or 5G,” Snopes reported.

One article, without evidence, alleged that the coronavirus discovered in Wuhan was “staged to cover up the public health crisis caused by the intensive 5G roll-out in Wuhan in 2019,” according to PolitiFact. The fact-checking service called the article false.

Many of the conspiracy theories involve groups that have previously claimed “wireless airwaves cause cancer,” which there is no evidence of, according to CNN.

United Kingdom Cabinet Officer Minister Michael Gove was asked about the theory that 5G could help spread the disease, to which he responded, “that is just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well,” Reuters reported.

Brendan Carr, who is on the Federal Communications Commission, responded to a tweet by singer Keri Hilson about 5G claims that it “is straight from the most dangerous depths of tin foil hat land.”

The Trenton, New Jersey, city council was also duped by the hoax. The city council crafted a 5G ban after receiving a letter from a concerned resident, according to The Trentonian.

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Is 5G linked to coronavirus? Here’s what to know about the hoax spreading online."