Although officials and scientists have voiced their voices and made it clear that the idea of linking the new coronavirus with 5G is "complete nonsense", it does not seem to prevent rumors from continuing to be sought after.

　　The latest news is that after Britain, there have also been incidents in the Netherlands where 5G signal towers were set on fire and vandalized. Some people even planned to hold a larger-scale protest against 5G on Easter on April 12th through social media.

　　Some British mobile operators said that under the influence of conspiracy theories, some telecom employees have been threatened.

　　one

　　On April 10th, local time, the signal tower in the northern Dutch city of Groningen was set on fire.

　　According to Dutch media reports, at least six signal towers were set on fire and destroyed. In the past week, there have been four similar incidents in the Netherlands.

　　In Europe, similar incidents appeared in Britain earlier.

　　On April 2, local time, a 21-meter-high mobile signal tower in Birmingham, England was set on fire, and firefighters put out the fire after two hours. The next day, a 5G signal tower in Merseyside was also set on fire … …

　　The Guardian reported that at least 20 cell phone base towers were deliberately set on fire or vandalized.

　　In this regard, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that two consecutive incidents of burning mobile signal towers coincided with the widespread spread of the "unfounded" conspiracy theory that "5G caused the spread of Covid-19".

　　The British "Daily Mail" bluntly said that these incidents were related to the rumor that "5G network spread Covid-19".

　　In fact, there are not a few people who believe and spread the rumor that "5G leads to Covid-19" on social networks in Europe and America, and even many celebrities participate in it.

　　In response to various rumors since the outbreak, a research institute of Oxford University found that 20% of Covid-19 rumors were spread by celebrities or politicians, and their content published on social media accounted for nearly 70% of the total content published.

　　As you can imagine, once the star politicians with hundreds of millions of fans spread rumors, their "influence" is equally huge.

　　two

　　Tracing back to the origin of this absurd statement, it may first come from a health summit held in Arizona on March 12th, USA, in which a doctor named Thomas Cowen claimed that 5G caused the spread of Covid-19.

　　He even argued that there was no outbreak in Africa because there was no 5G there.

　　This rumor has been widely circulated in the United States, forwarded by many celebrities and spread to more western countries.

　　With the increase of confirmed cases in Africa, this statement was quickly "slapped". However, the spread of this conspiracy theory by foreign social media has not stopped, and many statements have been deduced … …

　　Rumors are flying all over the sky, which also makes some people smell business opportunities.

　　A British company claims that it has developed a product that can prevent 5G radiation and protect users from Covid-19. Each product costs as much as 350 pounds.

　　In this regard, the four major telecom operators in the UK issued a joint statement refuting the relevant statements, arguing that the conspiracy theory linking the 5G signal base station with the spread of Covid-19 is dangerous and false information, which is totally wrong.

　　The BBC’s "fact check" column also interviewed a number of scientists, clearly indicating that the idea of linking the new coronavirus with 5G is "complete nonsense", without any basis and biologically impossible.

　　British officials later came forward and pointed out that this "conspiracy theory" is completely nonsense.

　　three

　　In fact, anti-5G organizations have always existed abroad, but why is this reaction so fierce?

　　In this regard, some media articles pointed out that on the one hand, the COVID-19 epidemic spread, and related topics naturally attracted high attention; On the other hand, rumors can spread quickly, which also reflects the social panic behind them.

　　Christian Lindemeyer, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, once said that people should treat Covid-19 rationally and not panic.

　　But it is easier said than done. In reality, many people hold the attitude of "believing what is there, not believing what is not" to some rumors, and intentionally or unintentionally become the disseminators of rumors.

　　As this newspaper has reported before, every time a disaster or major public health incident breaks out, there will be irrational behaviors caused by various rumors:

　　Net-transmitted granite can prevent Covid-19 from being infected, causing netizens to rush to buy it; Others believe that drinking alcohol can prevent the virus … …

　　Fortunately, many social media have recognized the harm caused by the spread of related rumors and taken action.

　　Facebook said it would delete those remarks that "may cause harm to the real world" and would check the authenticity of other related remarks.

　　YouTube, a video website, also said that videos linking 5G and COVID-19 would be removed because they "quoted unconfirmed medical content".

　　Disaster can test human nature best. What is more terrible than the spread of the virus is the layers of fermentation of false information and the rapid spread of panic.

　　As WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, in the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, "facts are needed, not fears", "science is needed, not rumors" and "unity is needed, not stigma".

　　Obviously, the campaign against false information and rumors is equally important in the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.