The power of anti-5G messages: emotion trumps the facts

The arson attacks on mobile masts last year, fuelled by online rumours of a link between 5G and COVID-19, demonstrated the power of campaigns against the new technology. The industry usually reacts with facts and sober analysis, but this doesn't cut through to the significant minority who continue to worry about the health effects of 5G. In a new publicly available Research Note, we studied four anti-5G campaigns to see what made them so effective. We found strong emotional links to pre-existing narrative themes, such as protecting your loved ones; the need to protect privacy; the fear of losing control; and alerting to hidden dangers. The Note is available here, and is included in our Spectrum Research Service.