We’ve all seen crazy conspiracy theories on the internet. And in the last couple of years, baseless conspiracy theories about 5G technology have skyrocketed, despite there being so many other worthwhile topics to be paranoid about. (I mean…have you heard about this Starlink thing? That’s gotta be Elon’s scheme to take over the world, right?)
We joke, but things have become pretty serious. A bomb was set off in Nashville, Tennessee last year because of one man’s belief that 5G had killed his father. The people at InMyArea.com, which helps people find local TV and internet providers, put their research team to work with a survey of 991 people to find out how many buy into 5G conspiracies.
You can see the main results above, per “theory.” The top one, which half the people surveyed had heard of, is that 5G causes cancer. Not surprising, since cancer scares arise along with most new technologies, especially when radio waves are involved. More disturbing is that 10% of those people believe it.
Things go downhill from there as far as those surveyed having heard about theories, but the percentage of people believing them becomes even more disturbing. Of the 35% who heard China is using 5G for spying, 13% believe it; almost as many think Bill Gates is brainwashing people. Of the 29% who heard 5G kills birds, 19% believe it. And 10% heard it damages trees and plants; almost one-quarter of them believe it.
The report notes that two in three respondents heard their first 5G conspiracy in just the past year, and the most likely place they found one is an online community. The second-most-likely place is from a friend or family member who shared. Men who identified as conservative were more likely to believe than women leaning right; conservatives, in general, were more likely to have heard the conspiracies.
The report also asked people about a lot of general conspiracy theories that have been around for decades, such as the “fake moon landing” (65% had heard it, 8% believe it), that iPhone apps record you without permission (60% heard, 46% believe!), and that Big Oil is trying to kill electric cars (39% heard, 44% believe.)
Only 30% of survey respondents have made the switch to using 5G networks on their cellphones. Seven out of 10 who haven’t switched yet said they probably would in the next year.
The most amazing data point: 40% of those who believe the conspiracy theories above are currently using 5G. Thanks a lot, bird killers.
Go read the full report at InMyArea.com.
