UK: Coronavirus: 'Murder threats' to telecoms engineers over 5G

[Audioboxer]

Telecoms engineers have told Radio 1 Newsbeat they're being threatened and harassed by people who believe they're working on 5G, which has been wrongly linked to coronavirus.

Claims about any link have been branded complete rubbish by scientists.

But the union and trade body representing thousands of workers across the UK say they've had around 120 cases of abuse reported to them.

Click to shrink...

"We've actually had cases where people have been threatened with being stabbed, threatened with physical violence and in some cases actually threatened with murder," says Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

CWU represents nearly 40,000 telecoms engineers.

Andy says most aren't even working on 5G - they're maintaining the network and playing "a crucial role".

Click to shrink...

The National Crime Agency has confirmed there has been a series of recent arson attacks and cases of criminal damage to telecommunication masts.

Newsbeat's spoken to three engineers who asked for only their first names to be used because they're scared for their safety.

Click to shrink...

Olga Robinson is the BBC's specialist in coronavirus and 5G conspiracy theories.

"Scientists say 5G and the coronavirus are completely different things - as different as chalk and cheese - so you can't get the virus by using 5G.

"They also say 5G can't impact your immune system and make you more susceptible because the radio waves being used aren't strong enough to damage your cells, body or immune system."

Click to shrink...

And Olga has a few easy tips on how to check what you're reading is true.

"First of all stop and think, don't immediately share," says Olga.

"Then check the source of that claim. Who is that person, who is that group that you've seen making the claim?"

Click to shrink...

Coronavirus: 'Murder threats' to telecoms engineers over 5G

Key workers reveal the abuse they've received while working on the UK's communications networks.

www.bbc.co.uk

Try to murder the Sky repairman fixing your broadband connection so you can stream Mrs Browns Boys because... 5G.

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

Inbred fucking morons

 

[SpottieO]

Is this like just a UK conspiracy theory or is it also prominent elsewhere? I haven't heard anything in the US but we have plenty of our own weird ass shit dominating the headlines.

 

[Pankratous]

Imagine being that fucking brain-dead.

 

[JaseMath]

C'mon, people, do some research—5G does not cause COVID-19. *facepalm*

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

The conservatives and the Murdoch tabloids have spent years sowing a distrust of academics and proper scientific sources whilst also encouraging rampant conspiracy theories. This is the result.

 

[-COOLIO-]

maybe we should just start writing 4g on the 5g towers to calm down the crazies.

please, if you know a 5g or bill gates conspiracy theorist, sit them down and educate them.

 

[ClickyCal']

Outright domestic terrorism. Should be criminal.

 

[Alucrid]

5G is evil.

-posted from my phone through my wireless carrier's 4G network

 

[More_Badass]

Wait, I haven't been following this

People think using wi-fi....

gives them coronavirus?

Am I misunderstanding that? What? How?

 

[Plasma]

I wonder what the overlap is of people who voted for Brexit that believe 5G causes COVID-19.......

 

[entremet]

C'mon, people, do some research—5G does not cause COVID-19. *facepalm*

Click to shrink...

lol. you're too charitable.

 

[hurroocane]

Wait, I haven't been following this

People think using wi-fi....

gives them coronavirus?

Am I misunderstanding that? What? How?

Click to shrink...

It's one of the conspiracy theories out there. There's a whole lot of them - using 5G for mind control, to remotely fry people's brains and so on.

How? I don't think conspiracy theorists think that far ahead.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

This has to be one of the most stupid things I've seen this year.

 

[Lihwem]

Oh no, my 5G Wi-fi

 

[-COOLIO-]

I wonder what the overlap is of people who voted for Brexit that believe 5G causes COVID-19.......

Click to shrink...

conspiracy theories tend to take root with anti-government and anti-science people. that's mostly on right, but there's definitely a lot on the left within the anti gmo crowd

 

[UnholyChocolate]

They do realize that 5g WiFi and 5g telecoms is different

 

[Red Liquorice]

This is the world we live in now, can you believe that (rhetorical, depressing question).

 

[Audioboxer]

The conservatives and the Murdoch tabloids have spent years sowing a distrust of academics and proper scientific sources whilst also encouraging rampant conspiracy theories. This is the result.

Click to shrink...

Exactly.

Some British "We've had enough of experts".

Do an analysis of how many religiously read The Sun and Daily Mail 🤔

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Imagine being that fucking brain-dead.

Click to shrink...

The government have deliberately tried to spread the idea that you can't listen to experts. That's how you get shit like this. They're still doing it too, trying to shift all the blame for their boneheaded covid decisions on to "the science" and "scientists" , and now the public don't want to listen to scientists either.

 

[LakeEarth]

If these fucks could somehow prove that a wave (5G) is creating a particle (coronavirus), they'd win all the Nobel prizes.

 

[Necron]

Idiots are everywhere.

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

If these fucks could somehow prove that a wave (5G) is creating a particle (coronavirus), they'd win all the Nobel prizes.

Click to shrink...

Wave particle duality is actually relatively straightforward. Well, as straightforward as any quantum physics gets. Energy and mass are equivalent, after all.

Now, of course, that's not applicable in any sense on anything the size of a virus, but let's not let little problems like get in the way of a good fire and destruction of public property by idiots.

 

[coldcrush]

Threats to workers and people just doing their jobs are completely unacceptable. And it puzzles me to see why anyone has tried to link it to Coronavirus...

I can however understand that the public has very little trust for large corporations that claim their products are safe. I have stated elsewhere about the numerous examples of times where companies swore blind that their products were safe and backed them up with weighted studies. (Roundup etc)
There are plenty of reputable scientists who say more testing is needed before we roll this out in such a wide fashion. Here is a solid article from a reputable source that gives a good recap
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/
I am sure I will get plenty of replies saying I am a 5g conspiracy theorist. I have no huge aversion to the technology if it is safe but have seen countless examples of times when the public's health has been placed second fiddle to profit.
Want to make absolutely clear though any threats or endangering any workers is the worst and should not be tolerated in the slightest

 

[LakeEarth]

Wave particle duality is actually relatively straightforward. Well, as straightforward as any quantum physics gets. Energy and mass are equivalent, after all.

Now, of course, that's not applicable in any sense on anything the size of a virus, but let's not let little problems like get in the way of a good fire and destruction of public property by idiots.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I was more referring to the creation of a virus particle made up of proteins and RNA.

 

[RedSparrows]

The conservatives and the Murdoch tabloids have spent years sowing a distrust of academics and proper scientific sources whilst also encouraging rampant conspiracy theories. This is the result.

Click to shrink...

It's far older than that. At any given time over the past (ten)thousand years a significant percentage of any given population has believed batshit stuff, especially in crises. If anything, the implication that science was attentively examined by the population is far more optimistic than the truth! :D The paradigm shift to scientific method and sceptical empiricism being the bedrock, rather than myth or theology, can only go so far. This is our flavor of it, filtered by another perennial: unscrupulous shits, in our case, populists.

 

[16bits]

I wonder what the overlap is of people who voted for Brexit that believe 5G causes COVID-19.......

Click to shrink...

What's the point in this post?

 

[Audioboxer]

Threats to workers and people just doing their jobs are completely unacceptable. And it puzzles me to see why anyone has tried to link it to Coronavirus...

I can however understand that the public has very little trust for large corporations that claim their products are safe. I have stated elsewhere about the numerous examples of times where companies swore blind that their products were safe and backed them up with weighted studies. (Roundup etc)
There are plenty of reputable scientists who say more testing is needed before we roll this out in such a wide fashion. Here is a solid article from a reputable source that gives a good recap
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/
I am sure I will get plenty of replies saying I am a 5g conspiracy theorist. I have no huge aversion to the technology if it is safe but have seen countless examples of times when the public's health has been placed second fiddle to profit.
Want to make absolutely clear though any threats or endangering any workers is the worst and should not be tolerated in the slightest

Click to shrink...

No one involved in this 5G/coronavirus nonsense likely reads the Scientific American or understands the nuances of scientific research when it comes to "coulds/mights/maybes/more evidence possibly required".

It's just reposting conspiracy theories on FB and then telling your family/children what you read and them taking you at face value because you're an authority figure/trusted to them.

 

[Kernel]

The conservatives and the Murdoch tabloids have spent years sowing a distrust of academics and proper scientific sources whilst also encouraging rampant conspiracy theories. This is the result.

Click to shrink...

Yup.

"My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge".

 

[ejoshua]

England's a failed experiment. Give it back to the Romans.

 

[His Majesty]

What's the point in this post?

Click to shrink...

I think it suggests that Brexit voters are stupid.

 

[Bleu]

maybe we should just start writing 4g on the 5g towers to calm down the crazies.

Click to shrink...

we did that with mercury based preservatives in vaccines because they were too fucking braindead stupid to understand it was harmless and not actual mercury.
we fucking removed them to calm down the nutjobs.
it did not work.

 

[Jeffolation]

It's just another G, I don't get it -_-

 

[808s & Villainy]

What's the point in this post?

Click to shrink...

To emphasize stupid people often have a wide variety of stupid ideas and opinions

 

[rjinaz]

Wait, I haven't been following this

People think using wi-fi....

gives them coronavirus?

Am I misunderstanding that? What? How?

Click to shrink...

In their minds since 5g became popular around the time the virus happened, it must be causing the virus. It's simpleminded thinking. Some of these people simply aren't capable of deeper thinking than that. I know it is the UK but it is the same kind of logic people used to burn witches and the like in Salem (just an example I thought of for some reason). You mix fear, a lie that can explain the cause of the fear and provide a "remedy", and lack of critical thinking and you get this shit.

 

[Bestlaidplans]

What's the point in this post?

Click to shrink...

If you can't get there yourself I will assume you're attacking 5G posts and infrastructure workers.

 

[Audioboxer]

In their minds since 5g became popular around the time the virus happened, it must be causing the virus. It's simpleminded thinking. Some of these people simply aren't capable of deeper thinking than that. I know it is the UK but it is the same kind of logic people used to burn witches and the like in Salem (just an example I thought of for some reason). You mix fear, a lie, and lack of critical thinking and you get this shit.

Click to shrink...

And Facebook, it's usually always Facebook. I mean, it'll be on Twitter too, but family members sharing conspiracies on Facebook seems to be the way it is these days. Especially during a lockdown with everyone spending more time online.

 

[coldcrush]

No one involved in this 5G/coronavirus nonsense likely reads the Scientific American or understands the nuances of scientific research when it comes to "coulds/mights/maybes/more evidence possibly required".

It's just reposting conspiracy theories on FB and then telling your family/children what you read and them taking you at face value because you're an authority figure/trusted to them.

Click to shrink...

Absolutely agree. Unfortunately as with most things these days it seems like people instantly retreat to one extreme side rather than discussing and understanding. I think the fact that enough Scientists are concerned that more research should be done before such a wide rollout is sensible. This inst exactly a essential service and would not be dreadful if a year or two more research was done by some non privately selected bodies

 

[Madjoki]

Threats to workers and people just doing their jobs are completely unacceptable. And it puzzles me to see why anyone has tried to link it to Coronavirus...

I can however understand that the public has very little trust for large corporations that claim their products are safe. I have stated elsewhere about the numerous examples of times where companies swore blind that their products were safe and backed them up with weighted studies. (Roundup etc)
There are plenty of reputable scientists who say more testing is needed before we roll this out in such a wide fashion. Here is a solid article from a reputable source that gives a good recap
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/
I am sure I will get plenty of replies saying I am a 5g conspiracy theorist. I have no huge aversion to the technology if it is safe but have seen countless examples of times when the public's health has been placed second fiddle to profit.
Want to make absolutely clear though any threats or endangering any workers is the worst and should not be tolerated in the slightest

Click to shrink...

If it was just about profits, it would be more cost effective just keep using 4G.
And if you believe in health concerns, you should know that signal attenuation goes up with frequency, making 5Gs higher frequency actually safer.

 

[CorpseLight]

This whole "5G causes Corona" movement is so easily debunked by just literally looking at a map of what countries have 5G already and which dont - Covid-19 is in every country, 5G isnt... Its seriously that simple. People are so quick to believe and get riled up over absolute garbage claims.

 

[rjinaz]

And Facebook, it's usually always Facebook. I mean, it'll be on Twitter too, but family members sharing conspiracies on Facebook seems to be the way it is these days. Especially during a lockdown with everyone spending more time online.

Click to shrink...

Oh definitely. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard more stories about an increase in extremists views.

 

[16bits]

If you can't get there yourself I will assume you're attacking 5G posts and infrastructure workers.

Click to shrink...

but I could say I imagine there is a significant correlation between 5g attacks and Corbin supporters.

i get you don't like brexit, but you don't have to derail threads with it.

we can all agree, whatever sid of the political spectrum, that the people who think 5g can alter viruses to become covid 19 are somewhat misinformed.

 

[Murasaki]

Is this like just a UK conspiracy theory or is it also prominent elsewhere? I haven't heard anything in the US but we have plenty of our own weird ass shit dominating the headlines.

Click to shrink...

It's been pushed by Woody Harrelson and M.I.A amongst others. Quite a few influencers too...

 

[Midgarian]

Isn't it incredible that this kind of insanity exists in one of the most developed countries in the World?

There are developing countries, with conservative religious populations, that don't have their people doing this. People from such countries look up to places like the UK as an example for their countries to follow. And people from the UK patronise the developing countries for being backwards.

I just have no words. When did we become like America?

 

[archreaper93]

Is this like just a UK conspiracy theory or is it also prominent elsewhere? I haven't heard anything in the US but we have plenty of our own weird ass shit dominating the headlines.

Click to shrink...

I'm in Illinois, and my lead at work believes it.

 

[Bestlaidplans]

but I could say I imagine there is a significant correlation between 5g attacks and Corbin supporters.

i get you don't like brexit, but you don't have to derail threads with it.

we can all agree, whatever sid of the political spectrum, that the people who think 5g can alter viruses to become covid 19 are somewhat misinformed.

Click to shrink...

And there is the common ground. Those people are misinformed as are Brexit voters.

 

[Audioboxer]

Oh definitely. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard more stories about an increase in extremists views.

Click to shrink...

There is an increase in xenophobia towards Asian people, and obviously things like the 5G nonsense could result in people getting hurt/threatened.

When and if a vaccine comes around be prepared for the conspiracy theories/extremist views as well.

 

[Azurik]

Low brain activity + celebrity social media influence = 5G is bad.
Apparently there is intelligence that on the 05/05 attacks on masts will increase because.... what other date would make more sense.

this is like a new flat earther wave of stupidity.
Why on Earth would telecoms companies try to kill off their paying customers??

british public never fails to entertain :)

 

[Heynongman!]

People are fucking beyond help if they believe this shit.

 

[Arkanim94]

Is this like just a UK conspiracy theory or is it also prominent elsewhere? I haven't heard anything in the US but we have plenty of our own weird ass shit dominating the headlines.

Click to shrink...

there are morons all over the world sadly.