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Dozens More Arson Attacks on UK Phone Masts Over 5G Conspiracy Theory (wired.com) 171

"Mobile phone masts in the UK are still being attacked by arsonists on a daily basis," reports Wired, "because of a conspiracy theory linking 5G to the spread of coronavirus." New data seen by WIRED UK reveals that dozens of attacks have taken place in the last fortnight, with conspiracy theorists targeting both infrastructure and key workers in the misguided belief that they are somehow spreading coronavirus... Since March 30, there have been 77 arson attacks on mobile phone masts across the UK, with staff working on mobile infrastructure also reporting 180 incidents of abuse. There have been 13 additional incidents of sabotage reported, ranging from failed arson attacks to attempts to damage mobile network infrastructure in other ways. From April 20 through May 5, more than a week after the supposed peak of attacks in early April, there were 16 arson or sabotage attacks on mobile phone masts. When failed or attempted attacks are added to the tally, that number increases to 74...

The continued abuse of key workers and attacks on critical infrastructure hint at how widely this conspiracy theory continues to circulate online. In the last seven days alone, more than 54,000 posts referencing 5G and coronavirus have appeared on Facebook, generating over two million interactions. The most popular of these posts, featuring an image of Bill Gates with devil horns, has received more than 4,600 shares, comments and interactions. Two posts protesting the removal of conspiracy theorist David Icke's Facebook page have together generated more than 7,000 shares, comments and other interactions.

The response from social networks has been spasmodic at best. While figures such as Icke have been banned, other Facebook groups with huge followings that peddle similar conspiracy theories are still active... On YouTube, conspiracy theory videos revealing "the truth" about 5G and coronavirus are still getting tens of thousands of views. The worry for industry figures is that despite a widespread and concerted effort to debunk the dangerous 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory, it continues to thrive both online and in the real world.

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Dozens More Arson Attacks on UK Phone Masts Over 5G Conspiracy Theory

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 10, 2020 @04:43PM (#60045174)
    It's hard to tell who won the 2016 stupidity contest: was it Brexit or Trump? So come on idiots, make your country proud in 2020. Bees, 5G, whatever.
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      On Friday a bunch of people are doing the conga to celebrate our victory 75 years ago. We are putting on a pretty strong show this year.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by gtall ( 79522 )

      It's probably just some youngins doing it for a thrill. Either that or they believe the masts are transmitting Bee-Gee's music, then it would be understandable.

    • A tie for stupidity
  • How do they know? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by thadtheman ( 4911885 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @04:44PM (#60045184)

    That the people destroying the masts are doing so because they believe that COVID19 is caused by 5G?

    Yes there is a conspiracy theory that 5G causes COVID19, but that doesn't mean the destroyers by in. In fact I think most of the people that buy in would not be capable of destroying a mast.

    I wonder if many are not just people that buy into privacy concerns of 5g.

    • Re:How do they know? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by MobileC ( 83699 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:07PM (#60045284) Homepage

      That the people destroying the masts are doing so because they believe that COVID19 is caused by 5G?

      Yes there is a conspiracy theory that 5G causes COVID19, but that doesn't mean the destroyers by in. In fact I think most of the people that buy in would not be capable of destroying a mast.

      I wonder if many are not just people that buy into privacy concerns of 5g.

      Or they buy in because they just want to destroy stuff and this is giving them an excuse.

      • Or they buy in because they just want to destroy stuff and this is giving them an excuse.

        This has to be quite a dumb reason. If they just wanted to destroy stuff there'd be a shitton of other arson cases related to other pressing matters. This is the UK we're talking about, COVID-19 and 5G hate is the very bottom of most people's priority lists.

    • I agree, it seems to be an easy out to ascribe it all to some lame conspiracy theory. Maybe some people oppose the 5G roll-out for other reasons, like spectrum congestion, or just the simple fact that the biggest 'value' of the 5G roll-out is higher density, higher speed surveillance of people.

      It's safer to just say it's ignorant luddites.

    • "In fact I think most of the people that buy in would not be capable of destroying a mast."

      Termites can do it, so no problem for a bunch of morons, they usually come in groups.

    • Re:How do they know? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Quakeulf ( 2650167 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:48PM (#60045474)
      That's one way of looking into it, but another is why the need for 5G? The more I ask the less I become convinced it's something I will ever need.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        Sure but these cell towers have very little to do with 5G. That's part of what is so maddening about this sort of abuse. 5G is going to need to be on and in buildings that they cover.

      • We've never *needed* mobile phones. But that doesn't make them bad ideas.

      • 640k is enough for everyone

      • by jimbo ( 1370 )

        Congestion might not be a problem for you and me right now but it is for many and in an ever growing number of places. Rolling out Sub6 5G before congestion becomes too widespread is a good thing. It's good to see 3.5GHz up and running here in Canada now.

        Increasing speeds on the countryside are also important,- I'm talking about people on the edge of things in the countryside who'll sometimes get to enjoy better spectrum efficiency, better data management with many clients on a remote tower and band aggrega

      • No, but probably 4G. And since these morons can't tell cause from effect and correlation from causation, do you really think they can tell a 4G from a 5G mast?

        Hint: They proved already that they cannot.

        • No, but probably 4G. And since these morons can't tell cause from effect and correlation from causation, do you really think they can tell a 4G from a 5G mast?

          They burn equally well, and for these thugs that's all that counts. Do some mindless property destruction, that we all pay for. Just taking whatever conspiracy theory there is as a lame excuse.

      • by johnw ( 3725 )

        There is little if any point in 5G for the average end user. All the drivel about "you'll be able to download an HD movie in 3.7 seconds" is just marketing people trying to think of a reason to persuade you to part with more money. How often have you actually downloaded an HD movie to your phone? You can get 40 Mbps over 4G. No-one needs more than that.

        The real reason for 5G is that it lets the providers serve more customers at potentially less cost. All the advantages are for the infrastructure provid

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Well the main issue is lack of bandwidth on 4G. In areas were a lot of people gather it gets quite slow for everyone.

        It also competes with fixed line broadband. Some people already use 4G because their crappy copper phone line is even slower and it's the only alternative. With 5G it might actually become desirable in some areas.

        Basically it will deliver what 4G was supposed to but didn't. Maybe.

    • The only official position against 5G has been the military.

      So logically, we can safely assume that the military are the ones destroying 5G masts.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I'd love to hear your explanation for the tens of thousands of videos posted online, showing these people ranting and raving about the covid making radios during their attacks of the towers and all utility workers.

      Why would a person do that? Be willing to allow their acts of arson and pulling knives on anyone driving a truck of any sort to be recorded by by-standards, all while ranting away at the camera their reason is to stop covid?

      Take last weeks video reported right here on slashdot.
      When three people t

    • Re:How do they know? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by jemmyw ( 624065 ) on Monday May 11, 2020 @04:19AM (#60046862)
      Almost certainly the people doing the destruction are different from the core organisers / believers. My sister works in security in the UK and no matter what the protest, it's the same group of people who turn up to fight / burn things down. It's been the same for years and probably forever - the people who want to smash stuff don't care about the cause. They don't even need an excuse, but the cause gives them a place to get organised.
  • by Shag ( 3737 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @04:54PM (#60045214) Journal

    Don't these people realize that 5G also involves antennas mounted on the outsides of urban buildings, for better coverage in places that built infrastructure interferes with connections to the towers? Look, the only way to be sure you've eliminated the threat you perceive 5G as being is to burn down the. whole. city. Get to it.

  • given ~12,000 Starlink Satellites are planned, covering the whole planet even in remote areas, do we really need ugly cell towers for such massive data throughput for whatever reason it'll actually be used for? i.e. chipping so your body movements of wiping your butt in a morning shit can possible earn you cryptocurrency re: Patent WO2020060606

    FACE-PALM (but don't touch your face)

    • by swilver ( 617741 )

      How else would conspiracy theorists distribute their theories to the masses?

      • by 3seas ( 184403 )

        I don't know if that would then be possible considering all the censorship going on in support of the so called official narrative.
        Besides, sometimes I have a user experience with my far more advanced computer that is less than I remember in user experience in using a Commodore 64. What the throughput really for?

    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      When all the satellites get into the proper position, Musk is going to flip a switch and his smiling face will peer down on us from the heavens. It will always be there, eyeballing us.

    • by Strider- ( 39683 )

      given ~12,000 Starlink Satellites are planned, covering the whole planet even in remote areas, do we really need ugly cell towers for such massive data throughput for whatever reason it'll actually be used for? i.e. chipping so your body movements of wiping your butt in a morning shit can possible earn you cryptocurrency re: Patent WO2020060606

      Not sure if you're being serious or not, but the two systems aren't really comparable. StarLink will still require an antenna about the size of a large pizza, and require significant amounts of power to operate. Those 12,000 satellites won't be able to communicate with a phone-sized device that works indoors.

    • by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      Yes, Starlink isn't designed for everyone to have a receiver so it would pair well with 5G

  • Education is too slow and really can't solve the problem that some people will always be too stupid to be tolerable. We used to have wars where we'd send the dumb impressionable ones to the front lines, but that's kinda frowned upon nowadays, probably because we also sent the dark skinned ones and the poor ones. Anyway, how do we stop the stupid people from mucking everything up?
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Anyway, how do we stop the stupid people from mucking everything up?

      Indeed. The cardinal sin seems to allow them to vote though.

      (Yes, I do get why we do it. Any meritocratic system that restricts who can vote is massively susceptible to be influenced and perverted. This is not a new effect either, just look at the "Chinese Imperial Examination", which was supposed to be purely meritocratic, but unless you had expensive tutors you had zero chance of passing. But stupid people voting is an extreme problem and is slowly shaping up into an existential threat to human civilizati

      • If voting had any influence on politics, I'd agree.

        The cardinal sin is that we don't properly mock these people into oblivion. Most smart people do what they have been taught, i.e. to let the village idiot rant and rave and not waste any time with him for there's no use trying to explain physics to a pig. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

        I'd say it's time we stop doing that. Because right now, all these idiots get is encouragement from their echo chamber of other idiots who pat them on the back for be

    • Tell them cyanide is a cure for anything that ails you and...

      No, wait, that has been tried, doesn't work fast enough either.

  • The towers are not mine... why should I care? Let the owners and insurance run after the criminals. Btw, after they have 5G working the interest will be on making me buy new hardware and pay through the nose for it. I'm bit tired of all this new cutting edge bullshit that requires putting a large sum of money for small increments of tech that breaks after 6 months.
    • It's infrastructure. One day your life may depend on someone being able to call 911 or 112, and it would be a bit of a bummer if they can't make the call because the local cell tower was burned down by idiots.

    • by Kjella ( 173770 )

      The towers are not mine... why should I care? Let the owners and insurance run after the criminals. Btw, after they have 5G working the interest will be on making me buy new hardware and pay through the nose for it. I'm bit tired of all this new cutting edge bullshit that requires putting a large sum of money for small increments of tech that breaks after 6 months.

      Sure it's not your problem... until the pizza place you work at is the next #pizzagate and a lunatic with a gun wants access to the secret basement that doesn't exist. Or your kids gets killed like in Sandy Hook and you end up being harassed by people saying it didn't happen and that you're paid actors. People with crazy ideas can make life miserable for you through no fault on your own, for reasons that don't make sense to anyone else. Granted most of them are harmless ramblers but those who end up seeking

  • by JoeyRox ( 2711699 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:21PM (#60045354)
    When aliens come in a few hundred years they'll scratch their heads wondering how a society reversed course on intelligence and technological advance.
    • by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @06:09PM (#60045572)

      Remember that Idiocracy was made in 2006. We're not even a decade and a half later and some parts of society are approaching or even surpassing the level of idiocy depicted in that movie.

    • If I believed in aliens I'd say they are already here and are using this themselves to test just how stupid the human race really is.

      By now they'd probably have stopped their invasion plans to see just how ridiculous their claims can be to still find anyone stupid enough to believe it. At least I did.

      I mean, I would.

  • by SuricouRaven ( 1897204 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:23PM (#60045362)

    I tried to report a conspiracy video. There's a nice report button, and there's a way to report whole channels if you dig for it - and all they do is present a list of fixed options to choose from, none of which apply. Nor is there any 'other' option, or any way to contact an actual person at youtube.

    These are the options:
    sexual content
    Violent or repulsive content
    Hateful or abusive content
    Harmful dangerous acts
    Child abuse
    Promotes terrorism
    Spam or misleading
    Infringes my rights
    Captions issue

    'spam and misleading' looks hopeful, but if you select it you get a description that makes it quite clear that it's only intended for misleading descriptions.

    I get the impression that youtube's management doesn't want to know about dangerous conspiracy theories. If they don't know, they can't be held accountable in any way. If they make it hard for people to tell them, they don't know. Very convenient.

    • Harmful dangerous acts
      Promotes terrorism

      IMHO those two fit the general "idiots who are attacking telecom infrastructure" category.

      • The video I was reporting wasn't about the 5G conspiracy. It was claiming that there was no virus, and people were being made ill by a psychological warfare campaign in order to collapse the economy. I didn't watch all of it, so I don't know who was claimed to be behind the effort or why.

    • If they don't know, they can't be held accountable in any way. If they make it hard for people to tell them, they don't know. Very convenient.

      So, it’s a conspiracy you can’t report a conspiracy?

    • by dargaud ( 518470 )
      Yeah, same here. A 'friend' posts messages about how chinese 'medecine' can help with covid, and of course to get in touch with her for sessions and/or products. I tried reporting it as spam but it's not really. It's certainly harmful if they catch it from her (she was the 1st infected person I know in the area, 2 months ago).
    • I ran into the same problem, tried multiple categories on different videos and none seem to actually trigger any action even linking to their own press coverage on the BBC made no difference.

  • I'm torn (Score:5, Interesting)

    by VAElynx ( 2001046 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:26PM (#60045374)
    On one side, the conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and 5G are bottom of the barrel intellectual manure. On the other side, there's plenty of real issues with 5G itself (such as the fact that multiple government orgs in the west have pushed for changes in the standard to increase the amount of metadata that can be collected - there's a reason why some countries seem worried about letting chinese devices connect to their 5G networks) and there's the fact that it's another step towards mass introduction of IoT among other things which is a *really* *really* terrible idea, and all this is being pushed onto the public with zero resort to do anything about it. So uh, while the people doing it are idiots, I just might consider them the useful subspecies of that breed.
    • Re:I'm torn (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nicolaiplum ( 169077 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:39PM (#60045424)

      They're burning down 3G/4G towers too - whether shared with 5G or not.

      That destroys the mobile data infrastructure that we use today.

      Since they're idiots, I'm sure they can't tell the difference between a cellular radio mast and an emergency services trunked radio mast. So when they start burning down those, you can't call ambulances or fire and rescue services any more.

      Don't be so quick to crow at the actions of these destructive idiots just because they overlap a bit with your preferences.

    • by Sebby ( 238625 )

      On one side, the conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and 5G are bottom of the barrel intellectual manure. .... So uh, while the people doing it are idiots, I just might consider them the useful subspecies of that breed.

      I'm torn between posting a reply, or modding you down as something like 'redundant'.

      While not directly saying/doing so, you're advocating for violence stemming from some stupid theory to satisfy your hope that something else entirely unrelated won't happen.

    • On one side, the conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and 5G are bottom of the barrel intellectual manure. On the other side, there's plenty of real issues with 5G itself (such as the fact that multiple government orgs in the west have pushed for changes in the standard to increase the amount of metadata that can be collected

      These dont need to be unrelated.

      Those that want you to ignore the real issues can push this sort of conspiracy theory to distract away from those real issues.

      While the Jeffery Epstein story was brought up during Hillary's run for president, the crazy pizza gate conspiracy was started with a single anonymous tweet followed by nobody, the media then mass-reported on the pizza gate "story" and stopped reporting on Bill Clinton taking many trips to fantasy island ... eventually the "story" lead to some nut

    • Two wrongs don't make a right, though. Unless we're opposing 5G for the right reasons and with the right means, you gain nothing out of it.

  • If I would be a network operator and needed to rebuild a site after someone put fire into the equipment, I would be replacing it with new and latest equipment (thus: 5G capable) and not old stuff. Therefore I also would not exclude the possibility that the arsonists could also paid employees, next to the typical 5G-opponent.
  • by shilly ( 142940 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @05:54PM (#60045508)

    I'd really like a journalist to do a long-form series of interviews with the some of the arsonists. I'd like something open and unsparing, that gets to the root of what is going on in their heads.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      that gets to the root of what is going on in their heads.

      While that idea speaks well of you, it would be a waste of time. There is nothing in there that even remotely approaches a chain of reasoning.

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        I'm not interested in doing it because I want to argue with them. I want it done because I want to see what compelled them to think this way and then act this way, with the hope that we may gain insight into how to interrupt the process. Of course I also want grab them by the shoulders and shout at them, I want to sneer about their monumental stupidity, etc -- but most of all, I want to stop them thinking this way and acting this way. That requires dispassionate understanding. Maybe it's a job for a forensi

        • by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Well, I read a number of recent articles about this, and it seems that the reasons for conspiracy theories are somewhat understood, but how to fight them successfully seems to be a current research topic and unresolved. Quite a few people seem to be looking into this though. On the light side those that want to fix the issue and make people less susceptible, on the dark side people that want to use this effect for financial and political gains.

    • I'd really like a journalist to do a long-form series of interviews with the some of the arsonists. I'd like something open and unsparing, that gets to the root of what is going on in their heads.

      I think many of their heads have already been rooted.

  • by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Sunday May 10, 2020 @06:01PM (#60045548)

    Just build fake 5g towers large 5G posters and 'donated by Bill Gates' with lots of cameras and a can of gas and matches and in a nearby garage, the brute-squad.

  • I've joked about letting them cut service off [slashdot.org] before, but it seems like this might actually going to be needed, to finally prove that this stupid theory is bonkers.

    Unfortunately too many things depend on existing infrastructure being destroyed to really go with that option, so this will stupidly persist.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      It will not help. For the level of non-insight involved, look at flat-earthers or anti-vaxxers. No amount of evidence can convince these people. They are so deeply convinced they are smarter than anybody else (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary), that they cannot be reached anymore.

      • by Sebby ( 238625 )

        It will not help. For the level of non-insight involved, look at flat-earthers or anti-vaxxers. No amount of evidence can convince these people.

        ...and it would probably coincide with flattening of the curve so they’d use that as proof they were right.

        • by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Indeed. And they did some "flattening" of their own, so they must have contributed personally! After all, these towers are what makes the curve physically higher, right?

      • For most of these flat-earthers, they just have 0 incentive to believe that the earth is round. They're generally poor and incompetent, and "believing" the earth is flat gives them attention and a community to be part of. Believing the earth is round literally gives them nothing.
  • Not that I know why any of this is happening or that I believe it would be right, but it doesn't only have dumb and stupid people in this world, it also has clever and mean ones, too.

    From where I'm sitting does this story get far too much attention with too many believing it word by word, getting off on their own rants (virtual signalling), and with too little evidence apart from the damaged equipment and the spooky stories by a couple of employees, to really support this latest of conspiracy theories.

    Most

  • by sizzlinkitty ( 1199479 ) on Sunday May 10, 2020 @07:02PM (#60045756)

    We live in a world built on lies. The government can lie to you at any time without any justice. Companies lie to everyone, including the governments, without any punishment. People will just stop believing anything you say and start coming up with their own twisted beliefs. We did this to ourselves.

    • This is quite insightful.

      The lack of ethics and neo-liberalism are regressing us to the stone age, simply by mere fact people can't discern fact from fiction any more.

      We've gone from a system with a number authoritative sources of information. To one in which there are millions of sources, all of which are dubious and often influenced by commerical interests. The decline of journalism is key to this. Journalism is an integral part of a process that has made modern society, without it people themselves ne

    • They're not coming up with their own ideas. That's the problem.

      We live in a world where people have been taught from the earliest days to NOT think themselves. Your school system is built on rote learning and repeating what you're told. Teachers actually go out of their way to ensure that you do NOT question what you're told but believe what an authority (i.e. them) tells you, even if it's utter bullshit. Point out a teacher's bullshit and you get reprimanded. Repeat their bullshit and get great grades.

      That

  • OK, so 5G cell phone masts are producing the virus ... by spontaneous generation? By nuclear radiation? By lasers, or by the philosophers stone magically morphing Lead into Covid?

    And they know this because ... 5G is new and Covid is too, I guess? Personally, I'd more suspect the primary cause of infection as the last episode of this seasons Dr. Who Cares. E. Coli on the surface on the screens viewed the show as well and started evolving to submit their complaints.

    Inquiring minds want to know!
    • The "logic" behind this is that the disease first appeared in China and China has 5G already. And for them it's not a virus, it's ... something else. But THEY (insert conspiracy group du jour here) pretend it's a virus.

      That's the bullshit in a nutshell. And no, pointing out other countries that use 5G already and have only a handful cases does not help at all. That would require these goofballs to be accessible with logic and reason. Logic and reason don't even have observer status in their world.

  • Sometimes I wonder if the human race even deserves to survive.
    • Sometimes I wonder if the human race even deserves to survive.

      You mean, compared for example to rats, who eat their own young?

  • This is the UK. Lots of idiots around in this country. Lots of people who are not impartial to a bit of destruction and violence. That kind of people will take any kind of excuse to commit violent acts.
  • Which shows that this is orchestrated "spontaneous" rage, to keep Huawei out until Ericson catches up.

    5G is a new step into breach of personal privacy,, but since that stuff will be forced on us one way or another, why not take it apart, make an image of disk and BIOS etc, put it back and make the data public ?

    Yet just by mentioning that option is like farting a hand grenade - all "enraged" mass steps back...

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