Abstract
This article examines the emergence of conspiracy theories linking COVID-19 with 5G, with a focus on Australia, the United States and United Kingdom. The article is in two parts. The first details long-standing concerns around mobile technologies and infrastructures before showing how they translate to specific worries about 5G technology. The second shows how these fears have fuelled specific conspiracies connecting 5G with COVID-19, how they have animated protests and acts of vandalism that have occurred during the pandemic, and the ongoing engagement of conspiracists with official inquiries into 5G. Finally, we argue that a productive way to understand what is happening with 5G is to look beyond conspiracy theories to a larger set of concerns. We argue that the battle for control of 5G infrastructure can be productively understood in geopolitical terms, as forms of economic statecraft, which partly explains why governments are increasingly concerned about countering misinformation and disinformation around 5G.
Highlights
One of the more unexpected events to take place during Australia’s early wave of COVID-19 restrictions was a series of public protests staged in Melbourne and Sydney on 11 May 2020, and again on May 30 (Brown and Loomes, 2020; TND, 2020)
We draw on news reports and other published sources and bring together Australian, US and UK examples to examine how this connection between COVID-19 and 5G has come about, how it can be situated within a longer history of concern around mobile technologies, and its impacts on policy preparation for and response to the rollout of 5G infrastructure
Protesters often note that 5G leads to more data centres, which can increase carbon emissions, argue that electromagnetic field (EMF) can harm wildlife and connect 5G to broader concerns around technology and government surveillance (We say no to 5G in Australia, 2020b). These issues are not a core element of 5G activism but show that many in these groups are generally disquieted with technological progress and often feel a sense of disempowerment in relation to government (We say no to 5G in Australia, 2020b). The expression of these concerns points to many of the ongoing issues that the 5G rollout will have to overcome in the broader community, which may cause some strange intersections between activists concerned about EMF and others focused on the proliferation of small cells in urban spaces or other risks associated with smart city infrastructure
Summary
One of the more unexpected events to take place during Australia’s early wave of COVID-19 restrictions was a series of public protests staged in Melbourne and Sydney on 11 May 2020, and again (including Brisbane) on May 30 (Brown and Loomes, 2020; TND, 2020). A backdrop to these 5G-COVID-19 concerns is painted by providing a brief history of concern around mobile technologies and infrastructures, explaining what 5G technology is and what it entails, and examining concerns around electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure and 5G. Against this backdrop, in the second part of the article, we explore the conspiracy theories linking 5G and COVID-19, and how these concerns have played out on the ground, paying particular attention to how conspiracists have engaged with government inquiries into 5G. We conclude by considering some of the larger political economic and geopolitical factors shaping debates around 5G, and we reflect on some of the broader implications of these campaigns for 5G rollout
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