Video footage of 5G cellphone towers being set on fire in Quebec, Canada, has emerged online in what appears to be an act of arson committed by people who believe the infamous conspiracy theory that 5G wireless technology is accelerating the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
As many as seven cellphone towers have been set ablaze over the past week in areas north of Montreal, in Canada's Quebec province, according to Global News. Quebec Police has already arrested two people, a 20-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, in connection with the fires, and has charged them with arson. A video clip of one of the 5G cellphone towers on fire was shared by a user on Facebook.
5G towers set on fire in Canada
The incidents urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to condemn the attacks on Twitter. "Vandalizing cellphone towers does nothing but threaten emergency services and impact the daily lives of Canadians across the country," he wrote. "These recent acts are serious criminal offences and carry severe penalties."
For the uninitiated, 5G stands for fifth-generation and is the latest cellular wireless technology that builds on previous generations like 4G and 3G and has been billed as being up to 100 times faster than 4G.
Nearly 80 5G towers burned down in UK, engineers attacked
The news comes a month after several 5G cellphone tower fires were reported in the UK in early April, which government officials linked to conspiracy theories.
Mobile UK, the group representing four mobile network operators in the UK recently told Business Insider that a total of 77 towers have been set on fire across the country, and employees of mobile operators were also being attacked verbally and physically, including one who was stabbed.
What is the 5G conspiracy theory?
The 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory started cropping up online in late January, around the time when news of the coronavirus began to resonate outside China. The widely circulated theory claims that 5G technology is aiding the spread of the deadly virus.
There are a number of different versions of the theory. Some versions say that 5G waves accelerate the spread of viruses and bacteria more quickly while others allege that coronavirus is caused by cells that have become poisoned from exposure to 5G radiation. There's also the theory that 5G technology is sucking the oxygen out of people's lungs.
These theories have been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media platforms. However, there is no scientific consensus or fact-based evidence to support the claim that there's a link between 5G technology and coronavirus.
