There has been a"significant uptick in inauthentic amplification" of posts on social media linking 5G to the coronavirus, Mr UzZaman said, indicating that there could be a coordinated campaign and bot accounts involved. The company says it uses a system that analyses language, communication patterns, post volumes and bot activity in order to identify social media posts that are"inauthentic" and attempting to manipulate online discussion.
Ali Tehrani, founder and chief executive officer of Astroscreen, a London-based company that monitors social media manipulation, said there was a concerted effort by suspicious accounts to amplify the 5G conspiracy theory on social media, which was mixed with a much larger number of genuine accounts circulating the claims.
Conspiracy theories about health risks associated with 5G have circulated since at least 2016. They were first spread on internet forums and YouTube, and were later picked up by the website InfoWars and Russian state broadcaster RT, which published stories cautioning that 5G could be"a global catastrophe", causing cancer in humans and wildlife.
In recent days, at least 20 mobile phone masts have been attacked in the UK, some set on fire, and British telecommunications companies have issued statements saying the 5G conspiracy theory has led to abuse of their employees. Some users of 4chan celebrated the news that 5G mobile phone masts had been targeted by arsonists and encouraged copycat actions.
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