Whoever said ignorance is bliss, never used WhatsApp. On Thursday morning, cricketer Harbhajan Singh became the latest victim to the perils of fake messages circulating on WhatsApp. Bhajji QTd a Reuters video that spoke about the benefits of 5G technology, saying that the technology would affect the brain.
“And kill lots peoples brain too Thank you whole world is already going thru a lot and these people bringing 5G (sic),” he tweeted.
And kill lots peoples brain too Thank you whole world is already going thru a lot and these people bringing 5G https://t.co/oLtPJxLmya
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 30, 2020
Off late, several online conspiracy theorists have tried linking the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 with 5G tech, saying that the pandemic is just a cover-up for the actual perils of coronavirus. Conspiracy theories have been shared on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram on the potential dangers of 5G technology.
The conspiracy theories even led to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Communications Commission to state that ‘5G technology does not cause coronaivurs.”
But how did this connection even start? Strangely though it began in 2018, much before the term COVID19 existed. It began in the town of Gateshead in the United Kingdom where a man took a ladder to vandalise the streetlights in his street. Local newspapers reported that the man was convinced that the town council had placed 5G antennae across the town’s streetlights, and these antennae were killing everyone.
In the past two years, several conspiracy theories have been going on about the technology. While some believed it killed trees, others were convinced that it caused miscarriages. Before Harbhajan Singh’s tweet, other celebrities, including actor Woody Harrelson and boxer Amir Khan have expressed their distrust towards 5G tech
While 5G is a type of electromagnetic radiation, so are other radio waves. However, all these radiations are non-ionising i.e. they don’t have enough energy to damage our DNA. The only type of radiation that can damage our DNA include the UV and X-Rays from the sun or the type of radiation that results from a leak in plants such as Chernobyl or Fukushima.
So for all those, Bhajji included, who fear the 5G technology, fear not! Once it officially launches in India, watching your favourite show on a streaming service or uploading a video on your social media profiles at that speed will be satisfying.