By S.T. Patrick
Sensitivity and paranoia are at an all-time high right now in a world adjusting to the grips of a pandemic and the effects of its resulting governmental overreach. The best alternative journalists and researchers are searching for answers that have not yet been found. In doing so, there has been a reflexive tendency to link the rollout of 5G (the fifth generation of wireless communications technology) with the spread of Covid-19. There are legitimate reasons to question both without a need to insist on the existence of a causative link between the two.
5G supports cellular data networks. In simple terms, it’s supposed to make your cell phone faster and more efficient. The advantages are faster speeds, lower lag time (latency), and higher bandwidth (the amount of information that can move at once). Increasing these things would enable, for example, remote surgeries, automated factories, advanced robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and a more live feel to real-time communications without the hiccups that still exist. The new network requires a lot of new hardware, which will be installed throughout the country atop light poles, towers, walls, and any structure with some height.
The theory that links 5G to the spread of Covid-19 states that the rollout of the new cellular network hardware is fueling the widescale spread of the virus. This, of course, is being executed by the global elites that have long been led, in part, by the eugenics-oriented statements of Bill Gates. Actor Woody Harrelson and singers M.I.A. and Keri Hilson have been among those who have perpetuated the theory through mainstream channels.
The theory has different through lines, depending on who is explaining it. One says that 5G networks can cause symptoms that mimic those of coronavirus. In this theory, there is no coronavirus outbreak at all. Government officials are lying about the effects of 5G and calling it coronavirus.
Another theory says that the networks emit levels of radioactivity that severely weaken the immune system, thus making people more susceptible to not only Covid-19 but every virus. When everyone is infected, there will then be a massive push toward mandatory vaccination of everyone in society.
It is true that the first places to roll out 5G have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Yet, it’s also true that this would naturally be the case. Those places are massive metropolitan areas that serve the world’s largest populations. More illness occurs where there is a larger population, and new technologies are never rolled out within uninhabited sections of Oklahoma, for instance. Both are more prevalent where high population density exists.
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is an organization started solely to study the effects of radiation and electromagnetic fields—such as those in cell phones—and how they affect human health. ICNIRP has determined that there is no evidence of any link between 5G and coronavirus.
Lending fuel to the arguments of those who believe in a link is the fact that Twitter and Facebook have both said that they would actively limit the speech of those pushing the claims. “We will continue to take action on accounts that violate our rules, including content in relation to unverifiable claims which incite social unrest, widespread panic or large-scale disorder,” a Twitter spokesperson said. “If people see anything suspicious on our service, please report it to us.” Facebook is removing the posts that link 5G to coronavirus altogether. Whenever free speech is limited on an issue, there is a general feeling that the speech is threatening those in power and has significant merit. This isn’t necessarily untrue, but it certainly doesn’t apply in every situation.
There are some reasons to be leery of the 5G rollout. There is some evidence that prolonged time with a cell phone in close proximity to your brain can increase the risk of cancerous cells developing. This evidence was not proven the first year or even the first decade cell phones were released. New technologies produce unplanned effects. 5G networks are the most powerful radiologic networks we have seen. The effects on our long-term health could indeed be damaging, but those studies may be a decade away.
Some are also disturbed by the fact that many of the new 5G towers are currently being installed on school grounds, both where the infrastructure usually exists and while students are now at home. It looks secretive, but it may not be. The work may have already been scheduled for the summer, when students are schedule to be home. Correlation does not always equal causation.
Global outbreaks have coincided often with U.S. election years, but so have the Summer Olympics. That doesn’t mean that the Olympics cause global viral outbreaks or that viral outbreaks cause athletes from around the world to want to gather and compete. There are reasons to doubt the mainstream perceptions of both Covid-19 and 5G. But to link the two with causation seems to invalidate the real research that needs to be done.
S.T. Patrick holds degrees in both journalism and social studies education. He spent 10 years as an educator and now hosts the “Midnight Writer News Show.” His email is [email protected]. He is also an occasional contributor to TBR history magazine and the current managing editor of Deep Truth Journal (DTJ), a new conspiracy-focused publication available from the AFP Online Store.
