Just before 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning last month, police in the British town of Derby were called to a 5G cellular network tower. The country was under lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic; even criminals stayed home. But someone had set the newly installed tower ablaze. All over the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, 5G towers are being targeted in a bizarre crime spree. The perpetrators? People who—having consumed disinformation spread on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter by celebrities, other users, and even the pro-Kremlin Russian channel RT—have convinced themselves that 5G causes COVID-19 and other maladies. The attacks are giving cities cold feet as to whether they should even host 5G antennas. Disinformation is no longer a mere inconvenience; it’s having real-life impact.
After the Derby attack, a town councilor told the local newspaper that “whatever reason people have to burn a phone mast, they must really look in the mirror and think, was it worth it? Putting people’s lives at risk, whether the first responders or innocent people locally. It’s simply not acceptable in civil society to do such a thing.” The local official was right, of course—but his commonsense argument is unlikely to impress the arsonists. That’s because the 5G arsonists are acting on highly compelling disinformation. So compelling, in fact, that it has inspired citizens all around Europe to attack 5G masts and the workers installing or repairing them.
According to the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) and the GSMA, ..
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