Heyday for conspiracy theorists linking virus to 5G
Conspiracy theorists are having a hay day after Reuters News Agency reported that a UK government agency has opened an investigation into a TV presenter who suggested that a theory circulating on social networks about the origin of COVID-19 might be true.
Communications regulator Ofcom is investigating the ITV Plc television network after one of its top presenters suggested a conspiracy theory linking the 5G generation of wireless technology to the spread of the coronavirus might be true.
Ofcom said in an e-mailed statement that it received 419 complaints about the matter and that it is “evaluating the program as a matter of priority,” as the claims are sparking attacks on telecommunications engineers and equipment.
Monday’s edition of The Morning show discussed unfounded theories linking the 5G network to the disease. One of the show’s presenters said those versions were not true. The presenter Eamonn Holmes said then: “what I do not accept is that the media immediately dismiss it as something that is not true when they do not know if it is not true.”
“No one should attack or harm or do any of that, but it is very easy to say that it is not true because it agrees with the state’s discourse,” he said. “That is all I would say as a person with an inquiring mind.”
Misinterpreted
In the Tuesday edition of the show, Holmes said his comments had been misinterpreted and that there is no connection between the 5G network and the virus.
Proponents of the theory on the internet and social media have sparked a series of attacks on mobile phone antennas in the UK in recent days. Some researchers say the conspiracy is being fueled by a coordinated campaign.
The investigation comes after the UK government established special units to combat false information about the virus, noting that it is pressuring social media companies to contain the spread of false rumors and reports that “could cost lives. ” Ofcom has already sanctioned a small radio station for introducing a guest who claimed that the 5G network caused the pandemic.
