Stupid people attacking cell towers because of 5G conspiracy theories

You can surmise most of what this article is about from the headline alone. Before I get into the whole story, let me start with this for the folks who won’t read past this paragraph: 5G antennas are not harmful to humans. 5G signals don’t spread COVID-19. In fact, 5G signals are totally safe, just like the 4G, 3G, and 2G signals we’ve all been using for decades.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about these folks who are attacking and, in some cases, setting fire to 5G antennas around the world. The trend started in the United Kingdom first, with reports of at least 60 masts damaged by sometimes dozens of people. Similar incidents also happened throughout Europe.

Related: What to look for in your perfect 5G plan and network

Now, the Department of Homeland Security here in the United States is reportedly issuing warnings to various mobile network operators that the phenomenon is coming Stateside (via ABC News). The DHS said that there have already been “arson and physical attacks against cell towers in several US states.”

Along with the overall alert to mobile operators, the DHS is also giving advice on how to better safeguard against future attacks on 5G antennas as well as cell towers in general.

Why are people attacking 5G antennas?

The most prevalent piece of “evidence” conspiracy theorists cite to back up their absolutely false claims against 5G antennas (and other pieces of mobile technology, including cell phones) is that radiation is bad for human health. Since there is radiation sourced from networking equipment, networking equipment must be bad.

While yes, radiation at various levels could be incredibly harmful to you, the type of radiation involved in 5G, cell phones, hotspots, etc. — not to mention the teeny tiny amount of that radiation — is totally safe.

You can read an in-depth report on that topic from our very own Robert Triggs here, which is absolutely incredible at debunking pretty much every 5G myth out there. It’s essential reading if you are even slightly concerned about 5G, mmWave, cell phone antennas, etc.

Related: 5G is not going to microwave your brain: All the myths, debunked

Recently, though, fear of 5G antennas has been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiracy theorists cite two new pieces of “evidence” to back up their totally wrong claims:

• Some of the places where 5G is readily available saw high numbers of COVID-19 cases.
• The timing of the rollout of 5G kind of lines up with the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both of these bits of “evidence” can be easily dismantled with a simple “correlation does not imply causation” response. However, to take things a step further, you can read all about how wrong the first claim is here and then head here to read about how false the second claim is.

Please don’t attack any cell equipment

What’s sad about these recent attacks on 5G antennas and other related networking equipment is that they put other people in real danger — far more danger than any 5G signal ever could. Not only could the fires hurt people but the lack of network access for first-responders could prevent them from being able to do their jobs.

If you or anyone you know is being swayed by 5G conspiracy nonsense, please read up on the matter from trusted, science-based sources. The best fight against misinformation is actual information.