Such baseless claims have inspired people to torch cell phone towers in Europe, resulting in outcry from officials, carriers and scientists.
"It's really the worst type of fake news," Johan Wibergh, Vodafone's chief technology officer, told CNBC's "torch cell phone towersAs of Monday, 24 of Vodafone's masts had been burned down by attackers, Wibergh said. One of the towers was supporting the National Health Service's new Nightingale hospital in Birmingham, England.
"It's really terrible," Wibergh said. "NHS workers want to talk to their family," he added, but can't because of "some ignorant people." The bogus conspiracy theories have also led to attacks on telecoms engineers. A clip that went viral on social media earlier this month showed a woman harassing two workers, claiming 5G can kill people.
Celebrities in Britain such as TV presenter Eamonn Holmes and talent show judge Amanda Holden have been criticized for giving credence to such theories.
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