5G; A Casualty of COVID-19 Misinformation.

5G Cell Tower | Getty Images

Like the coronavirus, misinformation is a pathogen that has been spreading like wildfire. It is razing the common sense of the masses and depleting the intellectual capacities of the hitherto cerebral minds we once revered. This current wave of misinformation has brought with it a tsunami of conspiracy theories around the supposed ‘true cause’ of the coronavirus pandemic that has brought the whole world to a standstill.

One of such theories that spread rapidly over the weekend, is one that linked the COVID-19 outbreak to the rollout of 5G network technology in Wuhan China. According to these malicious stories, the virus was released as a diversionary measure to distract the world, whilst national governments rollout the ‘deadly’ 5G network technology across the world. Some claimed that the pandemic is an attempt to conceal the truth about the ‘real killer’, which is 5G.

Further pushing this narrative is a cleric who despite identifying as a “tech enthusiast”, went on to assert that, both the coronavirus pandemic and the 5G rollout draped in the endearing features and possibilities of the Internet of Things (IOT) are all part of the grand scheme of world powers to administer vaccines to millions of people across the globe. The vaccine, “ID2020” as he tagged it, will usher in the New World Order (NWO).

These narratives which UK authorities have described as “dangerous nonsense”, are not only unfounded and the figments of the blurred imaginations of those propagating them, who irrespective of all the scientific explanations and empirical evidence that exist to rebuff these claims, have decided to stick to the concoctions of sceptics who are opposed to change and are out to stoke confusion and panic with unsubstantiated urban myths that are largely unsupported by any known scientific research or study in the midst of this ravaging pandemic.

As humans we are always scared of learning new ways of life and ditching ways and systems that we’ve found to be just efficient and have long standing attachments to. In such times we let these emotional attachments cloud our sense of judgement. There are lots of examples to show we have always had this scepticism about new things. I can remember that the single reason my mum refused to get a washing machine, was simply because she was of the view that it would make us all lazy. We all know that on person or persons who have refused to upgrade to newer versions of software because they believe that the ones they learnt with remains the best version. You will hear things like, “AutoCAD 2007 remains undefeated! Carry your 2020 version and go jare.” LOL! What they don’t know is that, developers are always iterating to come up with new features that will make the software more efficient and increase productivity.

Across all ages, there has been apathy for new ways of life, or fear of the unknown if you may. These worries are valid and quite understandable.  People will be opposed to any change until its practical value becomes clear, especially when they are comfortable with what is existing and has been working for them. Like Steve Jobs said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Our job is to figure out what they are going to want before they do.” Henry Ford also said, “If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!’”

As with previous generations of mobile connectivity, there’s been genuine safety concerns about how the radiofrequency radiation (RFR) emitted from all our connected devices are exposing us to health risks. From Physics we understand that anything emitted in the electromagnetic spectrum is of RFR. Microwaves, x-rays, radio waves, light from our devices and light from the sun are all examples.  What makes any RFR dangerous is whether it falls into ionizing or non-ionizing radiation. It is true that the 5G wireless network works at a much higher frequency (between 24 to 90 gigahertz) than its predecessors. But our cell networks, as with FM radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet and visible light, are all of low frequency and fall under non-ionizing radiation, which makes them too weak to break chemical bonds or damage tissues.

Sceptics of the 5G rollout must be reminded that the amount of electromagnetic radiation they get exposed to from the sun is of greater magnitude than 5G networks will emit. There are lots of technology that are part of our daily lives that pose significantly higher risk. Statistics show that about 1.35 million people are killed in car crashes every year. This means that on the average, nearly 3700 die each day in road crashes. Also not forgetting the high level CO2 emissions from cars that is having serious impact on our environment and climate. These damning statistics and other human and environmental safety concerns notwithstanding, there has been massive adoption and widespread use of automobiles and other means of transportation as means of easing movement of people and goods to give more meaning to human existence.

Some of the notable peddlers of these misinformation, are themselves, guilty of contributing more CO2 than the average car user, as they travel in convoys of not less than 3 cars and fly in private jets. They must also not forget that the technology, whose capabilities they are relying on to reach millions of people across the globe, in propagating these falsehoods, spurred by the scepticisms of their technophobia are all early versions of the technology they are now strongly opposed to.

SO WHY 5G, IS 4G NOT ENOUGH?

Quite frankly 4G has been great so far, empowering us with network speeds that has enabled us share videos and make seamless video calls, go live on social media, watch videos on demand, or as we all like to put it; “Netflix and Chill” and even more importantly move around with ride sharing services like Uber and Bolt. But since time immemorial, there has always been this instinctive desire in man for advancement. It is even said that the only thing constant in life is change. Man has always sought out better ways to do things.

Two years ago, while watching my favourite CNN TV show, Quest Means Business, that I saw a CNN Money video explaining the 5G Network, that I got to understand the technology and why it’s very important as the backbone for the future.

5G is out to enable us attain network speeds and efficiency like we haven’t experienced before. To put this into perspective; today it will take you about 6 minutes to download a 3D movie on a great 4G network, with 5G it will take you only about 30 seconds to download same movie, as 5G has between 20 – 100% (depending on whether the network is utilizing the low or high-band spectrum) increase in download speeds compared to 4G LTE.

Although 4G already has low latency (lag time; the time between when devices communicate with each other or with the server), it is said that with 5G, latency is virtually zero. This is very important for next generation technologies like self-driving cars and other autonomous vehicles, which will require instantaneous communication between them and computers in the cloud, that will tell them how to respond to traffic situations around them, to ensure safety of the passengers and the autonomous vehicles themselves. Smart homes, smart cities, artificial intelligence (AI) powered robots and factories, are all things that will greatly rely on the rollout of the 5G technology to attain high levels of efficiency.

While we appreciate the efforts and dedication of these innovators and inventors in constantly seeking out ways to improve how we do things, I strongly believe that the onus is also on them to ensure massive education and enlightenment of the consumers on the need and changes the new generation network technology would bring before deployment, to act as a prophylactic that will mitigate the spread of misinformation and falsehoods, and prevent panic and apprehension at the alarming rate we are experiencing today.