Even the most logical and reasonable among us can be tricked into believing false information if we are afraid enough for our own lives and the lives of our family members. In a survival situation, the mind can shut down logic and reason, and we may enter a primal survival mode: fight, freeze or flight.
In a widespread panic, people often go looking for answers. Sometimes ignorance isn’t bliss—it’s terror. And when people are terrified and misinformed, they are vulnerable to behaving irrationally. If you want to provoke irrational behavior, create a pathogen out of a group of people who are engaged in an activity that is not widely understood.
A conspiracy theory blaming the global rollout of 5G for the “activation” and amplification of the coronavirus made its way to some people who swallowed the idea down as an alternative to information presented by the mainstream media. This “hidden” information inspired a few panicked individuals who satiated their fear by acting on the misinformation as though it were fact.
One or more individuals set fire to four Vodafone mobile masts that supplied 2G, 3G and 4G and 5G connectivity in Birmingham, UK.
Degrees of anxiety and panic levels among people during this pandemic will ebb and flow as more information comes out.
This is the perfect time for malevolent actors to wage disinformation campaigns. 5G is a new technology, and new technology is often viewed with skepticism.
Bottom Line
The pandemic is a highly unusual event for many people around the world. It is a new event that is killing thousands of people all over the world. This is scary. And it is a challenge to the scientific community writ large to prove their mettle. The average person will at least acknowledge that they have little idea how a smartphone or any other mass-produced modern computing electronics gadget works, let alone a 5G system’s levels of electromagnetic radiation.
Social media companies and many tech giants have questionable relationships with the average person. Perhaps the feeling could be summed up by the phrase “I need you, but I don’t trust you.”In any case, social media companies Twitter and Facebook have said they will remove the conspiracy content as did YouTube.