How the 5G conspiracy theories took hold – podcast
Last week a mobile phone mast serving the emergency NHS Nightingale hospital in Birmingham was one of the latest targeted by arsonists who wrongly believe 5G technology is linked to the spread of coronavirus. False theories linking 5G to coronavirus have proliferated rapidly, leading to the vandalism of dozens of masts across the UK.
Guardian media editor Jim Waterson tells Rachel Humphreys why, despite lacking any scientific evidence, these theories have taken off, and how they have managed to spread so quickly.
Archive: Twitter, BBC, London Real, ITV, Downing Street press conference
Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
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