# 5G Conspiracy Theories > 5G Conspiracy Theories are a 2016 misinformation campaign claiming 5G causes cancer and transmits COVID-19, marked by 2020's global cell tower arson incidents. 5G Conspiracy Theories are a collection of unfounded claims about fifth-generation wireless technology, ranging from assertions that 5G radio waves cause cancer to the belief that 5G networks somehow spread COVID-19. The theories trace back to anti-5G activism in mid-2016, exploded into a global misinformation crisis in early 2020 when believers set fire to cell towers across multiple countries, and left a lasting mark on how researchers and platforms think about online misinformation. ## Origin The roots of 5G health fears predate 5G itself. In 2000, physicist Bill P. Curry produced a report for Broward County Public Schools in Florida warning that wireless technology was "likely to be a serious health hazard"[1]. His key evidence was a graph labeled "Microwave Absorption in Brain Tissue (Grey Matter)" showing radiation dose rising sharply at higher wireless frequencies. The chart looked alarming but had a fundamental flaw: it measured tissue in a dish, ignoring the fact that human skin blocks higher-frequency waves rather than letting them penetrate deeper[1]. Curry's warning spread far beyond Florida over the following years, feeding anxiety about each new generation of wireless technology. The specific targeting of 5G began on July 14, 2016. Anti-5G activist Josh del Sol published what appears to be the earliest article claiming 5G causes cancer, posted on the website "Web of Evidence" shortly after the FCC announced plans for widespread 5G adoption[5]. Four days later, del Sol followed up on his site "Take Back Your Power" with coverage of an FCC press conference where Bloomberg reporter Todd Shields had his credentials confiscated for speaking with attendees who had concerns about 5G radiation[7]. At that same event, former Congressional candidate Kevin Mottus confronted FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler directly, citing the National Toxicology Program study and asking how the agency could proceed with expansion while ignoring studies showing "cancerous effects, neurological effects, reproductive harm"[7]. Later that month, the YouTube channel "InPower Movement" published "The Truth About 5G," asking viewers whether "a clandestine force" was censoring information about the rollout[2]. The video collected over 123,000 views in under four years[5]. - **Platform:** Anti-5G activist blogs (Web of Evidence, Take Back Your Power), YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** Josh del Sol (early anti-5G activist), Bill P. Curry (physicist, influential flawed chart), Kevin Mottus (former Congressional candidate, early public confrontation) - **Date:** 2016 ## Overview 5G conspiracy theories broadly fall into two camps. The first claims that 5G wireless signals cause direct health harm, including cancer and immune system damage. The second, which emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, alleges that 5G technology is connected to the coronavirus outbreak[3]. Some variants claim 5G radiation caused COVID-19 directly, while others argue COVID-19 was fabricated as a cover story for 5G-related illness[3]. Both strains share a distrust of telecommunications companies, government regulators, and mainstream science. The theories spread through Facebook groups, YouTube videos, Twitter hashtags, Change.org petitions, and conspiracy-oriented websites. Despite repeated debunking by scientists, journalists, and fact-checkers, the claims motivated real-world violence. Arson attacks hit cell towers in at least five countries during the spring of 2020[2]. As memes, 5G conspiracy theories became fodder for both sincere believers sharing pseudo-scientific graphics and ironic posters mocking the claims. The ironic side of the meme landscape turned the conspiracy's logic against itself, attributing everything from stubbed toes to bad weather to nearby 5G towers. ## How It Spread The conspiracy theory migrated across platforms in stages. Ben Decker of the Global Disinformation Index traced the conversation's origin back to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's June and July 2016 speeches about 5G adoption, noting that "much of the criticism of the infrastructure plan hinged upon one theme: how the technology will come to define every vector of our lives"[2]. On November 16, 2017, the Facebook group Stop5GUK launched, growing to over 56,000 members within two years[5]. By October 2017, the theory had reached Reddit's r/conspiracy subreddit, where posts framed 5G as part of a "New World Order" agenda[2]. Professional conspiracy theorist David Icke got involved by May 2018, and Alex Jones' InfoWars began producing daily 5G content shortly after[2]. Change.org petitions appeared calling on governments to halt 5G deployment. One Australian petition claimed "5G millimeter wave radiation will make people sick, especially unborn children, young children, pregnant women, and individuals with chronic illness"[8]. The petition was later flagged by Change.org's own users as containing contested statements[8]. In November 2018, hundreds of starlings died mysteriously at a park in The Hague, Netherlands. Anti-5G conspiracy websites, particularly those run by John Kuhles, blamed a non-existent 5G test at a nearby cell mast[4]. Snopes investigated and found the only documented 5G test in The Hague had occurred months earlier, on June 28, 2018, with no associated bird deaths[4]. The Dutch railway company NS confirmed they were "unaware that recent 5G tests were conducted at this location," and KPN, the largest mobile operator in the Netherlands, stated there were "no 5G tests in Den Haag"[4]. The New York Times weighed in on July 16, 2019, publishing "The 5G Health Hazard That Isn't," tracing much of the anxiety to Bill Curry's flawed 2000 chart[1]. ## How to Use 5G conspiracy theories typically show up in meme form through several formats: - **Ironic attribution**: Take any minor inconvenience and blame it on 5G towers. "Burnt my toast this morning. Thanks, 5G." The more absurd the connection, the better the joke. - **Screenshot dunks**: Share a wild claim from an anti-5G Facebook group or tweet, usually paired with a reaction image or mocking caption. - **Pseudo-scientific chart parodies**: Create an official-looking graph that "proves" 5G causes something ridiculous, mimicking the format of Bill Curry's original flawed chart or the infographics circulated by conspiracy believers. - **Tinfoil hat imagery**: Use classic conspiracy-theory visual tropes (tinfoil hats, red-string corkboards, Pepe variants) applied to 5G towers and cell infrastructure. The general formula: identify the conspiracy's core logic (wireless signals cause bad things), then push it to its most absurd conclusion. ## Cultural Impact The 5G conspiracy theories drew debunking coverage from the New York Times[1], Snopes[4], the Guardian[6], and RNZ[2], among many other outlets. Academic researchers published peer-reviewed studies analyzing the misinformation as a case study in "digital wildfires," a category the World Economic Forum had placed among the top global risks of the 21st century[3]. The practical damage was real. Telecommunications companies in multiple countries reported infrastructure damage from arson, with the attacks threatening connectivity for emergency services during a health crisis[2]. The episode became a textbook example for researchers studying how pre-existing conspiracy communities can rapidly absorb and amplify new crises, creating misinformation events far more dangerous than their individual components[3]. The conspiracy's intersection with COVID-19 misinformation also changed how platforms and governments approached content moderation. The speed at which online claims translated into physical attacks on infrastructure made the 5G-COVID wildfire a frequently cited case in discussions about the real-world consequences of misinformation. ## Fun Facts - The first tweet linking 5G to COVID-19, posted January 21, 2020, contained a typo: "Conincidence?" with an extra 'n'[3] - Bill Curry's flawed 2000 chart measured microwave absorption in brain tissue sitting in a dish. Inside a living human body, the skin acts as a barrier that blocks higher-frequency waves from reaching the brain, completely undermining the graph's alarming slope[1] - The 5G bird death hoax in The Hague was traced to John Kuhles, who also claimed the 2018 California wildfires were triggered by a "direct energy weapon" deployed by the "Ruling Elite" to punish the state for vetoing "mass 5G deployment"[4] - A Danish cohort study followed over 358,000 people for 27 years without finding any link between mobile phone use and cancer, one of the largest and longest-running studies on the topic[6] - Researchers found the 5G-COVID conspiracy was a "complex digital wildfire" that couldn't be traced to any single viral post, making it far harder to combat than typical misinformation events[3] ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are 5G conspiracy theories? 5G conspiracy theories are unfounded claims that fifth-generation wireless technology causes health problems, including cancer and COVID-19. Scientists and health organizations have debunked these claims repeatedly[6]. ### Where did 5G conspiracy theories come from? The earliest anti-5G content appeared on July 14, 2016, published by activist Josh del Sol on the website "Web of Evidence" shortly after the FCC announced 5G adoption plans[5]. Broader wireless health fears trace back to a flawed 2000 chart by physicist Bill P. Curry[1]. ### What do 5G conspiracy theories claim? The theories take several overlapping forms. Some claim 5G radio waves cause cancer or suppress the immune system. Others allege that 5G caused or helped spread COVID-19, while a subset argues COVID-19 was fabricated entirely to distract from 5G health effects[3]. ### How do people use 5G conspiracy theories as memes? The ironic meme format typically involves attributing absurd everyday problems to 5G towers, parodying the conspiracy's logic. Screenshot dunks on wild anti-5G claims are also common[2]. ### Are 5G conspiracy theories still popular? The conspiracy peaked in April 2020, when it motivated cell tower arsons across multiple countries. Anti-5G groups still exist on social media, though intensity dropped after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic[3]. ### Did 5G conspiracy theories cause real-world violence? Yes. In April 2020 and the months following, arson attacks targeted cell towers in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Cyprus, and New Zealand. New Zealand alone saw 14 attacks in a six-week period[2]. ### Did a 5G test kill birds in the Netherlands? No. While hundreds of starlings did die at a park in The Hague in late 2018, Snopes found the only documented 5G test in the area had occurred months earlier with no associated bird deaths. The claim originated from a single conspiracy theorist's Facebook posts[4]. ### Who is Bill P. Curry? Bill P. Curry was a physicist who produced a report in 2000 warning that wireless technology was dangerous, based on a chart showing radiation absorption in brain tissue. The chart had a fundamental flaw: it measured isolated tissue, ignoring how human skin blocks higher-frequency waves. His warning spread widely and fed anxiety about each new wireless generation, including 5G[1]. ### What does the scientific consensus say about 5G safety? The World Health Organisation states that "no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use" based on decades of research. 5G signals are non-ionizing radiation, lacking the energy to damage DNA[6]. ### How did 5G conspiracy theories merge with COVID-19 misinformation? The first known tweet connecting 5G and COVID-19 appeared on January 21, 2020. Over the next ten weeks, the idea grew from obscurity to a widely discussed topic, driven more by YouTube videos than individual tweets[3]. ### What role did Alex Jones and David Icke play in spreading 5G fears? David Icke adopted the anti-5G cause by May 2018, and Alex Jones' InfoWars began producing daily 5G content shortly after, roughly two years after the initial anti-5G articles appeared online[2]. ### What is a "digital wildfire" in the context of 5G conspiracy theories? Researchers classified the 5G-COVID misinformation event as a "complex digital wildfire," defined as fast-spreading, inaccurate information that quickly reaches public consciousness and causes serious real-world harm. The World Economic Forum placed such events among the top global risks of the 21st century[3]. ## References 1. [Mobile phones and cancer – the full picture | Mobile phones | The Guardian]() 2. [The 5G Health Hazard That Isn’t - The New York Times]() 3. [FCC intimidates press and kills free speech at 5G rollout (video) | Take Back Your Power]() 4. [5G Conspiracy Theories - Know Your Meme]() 5. [LGBTQ chemicals conspiracy theory]() 6. [Petition · Stop 5G Networks Now! We do not want a weapons system, nor our brains to be fried! - Australia · Change.org]() 7. [Did a 5G Cellular Network Test Cause Hundreds of Birds to Die? | Snopes.com]() 8. [How 5G and Covid-19 mixed to make a toxic conspiracy cocktail | RNZ News]() 9. [COVID-19 and 5G conspiracy theories: long term observation of a digital wildfire | International Journal of Data Science and Analytics | Springer Nature Link]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/5g-conspiracy-theories Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library