What is happening with 5G and how uncertain is its future?
By: Gabriel E. Levy B- www.galevy.com – @galevy
When it comes to medicines, the fine line between curing a disease and a fatal poisoning is mediated by the dose, any medicine applied in a higher dose than the adequate one ends up being harmful to health: “all substances are poisons, there is no substance that is not. The dose differentiates a poison from a remedy” said Paracelso [1]. As with medicines, the fine line between a telecommunication signal that serves to communicate and a signal that affects human health is mediated, among other things, by the power [2]. For example (although there are other factors), what most differentiates the transmitter of a microwave and that of a communications antenna, microwave is largely the power with which it is transmitted [3].
In other words, as with chemical medicines, radio frequencies are potentially harmful to health and can even cause death if they are not properly supplied, managed and tested [4].
All of the above could eventually explain the wide spread of so much misinformation, fears and apocalyptic speeches about the dangers of 5G technology, rumors and fallacies that have taken hold of the world population especially in recent months [5].
Approximately 74 years ago, Joseph Goebbels proposed the 11 principles of Nazi advertising, an effective formula with which Nazism managed to strengthen its ideology in the citizen’s mind [6], fostering anti-Semitism and leading the world to war. Although the eleven principles apply consistently with the phenomenon of misinformation surrounding the 5G technology implementation [7], we particularly highlight the evident coincidence with the eighth:
“For an idea to spread, it must be mediated by a principle of plausibility, it must be based on half-truth, which is built with arguments from reliable, fragmented and diverse sources, and in this way it manages to be credilve.” Joseph Goebbels [8]
The implementation of 5G is being bombarded by the media with all kinds of news about its dangers [9], exaggerating, simplifying, disfiguring and vulgarizing its effects [10]. However, these “news” are based partially true factors, since there is potentially a risk to human health if technology is not properly implemented.
From this perspective, it is not surprising that there are thousands of 5G news available on Internet that meet the above criteria; some of them even suggest its relation [11] with Covid19 [12].
Applying in its structure principles of journalism such as the answer to the questions “who? how? why? and for what?”. We propose a hypothetical scenario that can explain a misinformative phenomenon that is gaining strength.
Who?
To answer this question, it is necessary to ask who is not in favor of 5G being deployed? who could be identified as an enemy of 5G? who is the most benefited from the failure of 5G technology?.
Firstly, we cannot rule out the fans of conspiracy theories, popularly known as “conspiracy” a segment of the population that spontaneously elaborates all kinds of paranoid apocalyptic stories that in many cases manage to generate an echo in the population [13]. However, its scope is limited and it would be difficult to achieve a deployment like the one achieved by the 5G Fakenews.
Secondly, we cannot overlook Donald Trump, the president of the United States, who on multiple occasions has expressed his unrest about the China’s advances in 5G technology [14]. This politic and television personality [15], without hiding his unrest, declared a trade war against the Asian country [16] and its most emblematic companies [17]. Thus, it has caused an effective slowdown in the advance of 5G [18] in what may be an attempt to gain time to equalize the asymmetry between Wester companies [19] and those of the Asian giant [20]. It is important to point out that, when we refer to Donald Trump as the visible head of a government, it not only comes a person, but the entire social [21], economic [22], political [23], and religious [24] movement, which supports and accompanies him[25] in defense of his political agenda [26].
All these obstacles promoted by the government of Donald Trump [27] have generated delays in the project progress [28] and have unleashed diplomatic [29], political and economic tension that is unnecessary [30], but indisputably timely for the political and commercial agenda not only of United States [31], but also of its allies in the West [32].
For what?
In the case of the first group, that is, the spontaneous originators of conspiracy theories, possibly it comes simply to a paranoid way of seeing the world, which is based on mistrust ¾ and added to a desire for notoriety and influence over any cost 3/4, states that behind practically all human activity, mainly of governmental or business origin, there is a double agenda of conspiracy [33].
In the case of the Donald Trump government, reasons seem to be different. The recent and rigorous study The 5G Economy [34], carried out by HIS Markit [35], and presented in November 2019, estimates that after a decade of implementation, the 5G technology will move about $13.2 billion dollars worldwide, that is, $13 trillion dollars (just over 50% of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, annual of the United States [36]), with a profit of approximately $2.2 trillion dollars (equivalent to the annual GDP of Italy [37]). In turn, it will generate 22.3 million jobs [38] (twice as many jobs as the entire global automotive industry [39]), it will produce endless business opportunities [40] and carry monumental amounts of information [41]. The power derived from such a network implies that if this technology is controlled by China, the Asian country would take global control as the first superpower; ousting United States not only economically, but technologically, and incidentally would be a significant military and geopolitical advantage [42], an issue that Trump has openly expressed as a genuine concern [43].
How?
On the one hand, conspiracy theories have nested quite well in social media, especially if it comes to news that has a certain degree of truth. That is possibly what is happening with 5G [44], where conspirators, taking advantage of the evident risks that exist in radio frequency technologies for human health [45], manage to derive thousands of false news, which are spread like wildfire on the net thanks to many other people who easily believe on news and serve as reproducers of it [46].
On the other hand, if something was clear after the last presidential elections in United States, is the Donald Trump’s capacity to manipulate the masses with fake, inaccurate or imprecise news [47], using information obtained from social media [48]. Although the investigations still leave a lot of ground in gray, among other this because of the power interferences, it seems that this was the system used in its favor by the British company Cambridge Analytics [49], with a very controversial technology [50] which may also have had something to do with the Brexit success in the UK [51].
Why?
Of all the questions, this is probably the most complex to answer, most likely because there is no single probable answer.
On the one hand, it is necessary to keep in mind that the risk associated with the implementation of any technology that used radio frequency is real [52]. In the case of 5G, the perception of risk is reinforced by the fact that it will use millimeter waves [53], greater deployment of antennas and transmitters [54] that will be located near homes and people [55] and that its deployment will be massive globally [56].
Considering that the WHO has warned on various occasions about the potential risks of equipment that uses radio frequency [57], it is impossible to completely ignore the potential threat. This feeds the minds of conspirators with arguments that seem very real [58], while the honestly skeptical and critical voices of health personnel and scientists can be distorted for misinformation purposes.
Until serious and rigorous scientific studies prove otherwise, any accusation against 5G is a simple speculation that will enter the Fake News realm [59], it is important to note that all of these assumptions could be better avoided if there were much more rigorous industry standards in this area, such as the significant incorporation of health science researchers into technology development teams, as well as much more demanding standards that require rigorous medical and clinical testing to ensure the 5G safety.
Ironically, rulers like Donald Trump, who defend the interests of large corporations and the reduction of the State’s participation in economic regulation, are responsible for ensuring that entities such as the FFC (Federal Communications Authority in the United States) do not demand more rigorous regulatory studies [60], since these studies then to delay implementation processes and can potentially raise production costs. Currently, the safety of a new technology is limited to the laboratory tests that are performed during the certification process [61] of the standard [62], but they are not complemented by extended field studies that clearly and forcefully avoid any criticism regarding the technology itself.
On the other hand, imagining that our ultra-connected world would be monitored by state sensors is not at all reassuring, and on the contrary, a future controlled by a despotic and totalitarian government [63] such as the China’s government [64], in the best style of Orwell’s big brother [65], it would be an unprecedented historical setback for humanity, which is highly probable. If China manages to dominate the 5G industry [66], it will have within its reach the possibility of manipulating the global economy and geopolitics [67], as is constantly warned [68] by researches and philosophers, who have denounced the possibility that this Asian giant wants to export its Total Control model to the planet [69] mediated by technology [70].
This article was written in collaboration with Sergio Andres Urquijo M and it is supported by 70 journalistic and academic sources as evidence of the information.
[1] Encyclopedic article on Paracelsus
[2] Book: Microwave Engineering: Experimental Techniques, Prentice Practical Series, Jose Miguel Miranda, Pearson Education, 2002, ISBN 8420530999, 9788420530994 365 pages
[3] Argentine academic article on microwave radio frequencies
[4] World Health Organization article on the risk of radio frequencies in human health
[5] Article by SOLANGE VAZQUEZ in Diario Vasco: From the Illuminati to 5G
[6] National Geographic article about the State of Deception and the impact of Nazi advertising
[7] Article: The 11 principles of Nazi advertising in force today
[8] Culturizing article on the 11 principles of Nazi advertising
[9] Article: Twitter will delete fake news about 5G
[10] Eitb article: 100 statements about 5G denied
[11] Article of the Nation of Costa Rica on conspiracy theories
[12] Colombiacheck review of fake news about Covid19
[13] Muy Interesante Magazine article about the conspirators mind
[14] Dinero magazine artice: Huawei at the center of the technological cold war
[15] Encyclopedic article about Donald Trump
[16] Forbes article: The real battle is 5G
[17] Europe Press article about Trumo’s pressure against Huawei and China regarding 5G
[18] New of the 6ta of Spain about Trump’s pressures regarding 5G
[19] Universal article: Trump wants Apple to develop US 5G
[20] Betch article: “Trump wants a 5G made in USA”
[21] France24 article: Evangelicals key piece for tump
[22] Chile’s T13 article about Trump’s political and economic agenda against China.
[23] BBC article: What’s behind Trump’s political agenda
[24] BBC article: Why do evangelicals support Donald Trump?
[25] Pais de España article: Who makes up the extreme right that supports Trump?
[26] RTVE article: who is who in the Donald Trump’s government?
[27] Semana magazine article: Trump threatened his European allies to stop Huawei
[28] Pais de España article: the new cold war of 5G
[29] Infobae article about the diplomatic impact of Trump’s war with China
[30] BBC article about the trade war between China and USA
[31] BBC article about the threat China represents for USA
[32] Infobae article about the UK’s decision to veto Huawei in 5G
[33] Muy Interesante Magazine article about the conspirators mind
[34] The 5G Economy Study
[35] OfficialI IHS Markit website
[36] Encyclopedic information about Gross Domestic Producers by Country
[37] Encyclopedic information about Gross Domestic Producers by Country
[38] The 5G Economy Study
[39] Alianza Automotriz article about the total number of jobs generated by this industry
[40] BBC article about the benefits of 5G
[41] Wikipedia article about Big data
[42] BBC article about the threat China represents for USA
[43] Pais de España article about Trump’s trade war with China
[44] El Tiempo newspaper article from Colombia about conspiracy theories of 5G
[45] BBC article about the health risks of 5G
[46] Cambio16 magazine article about the impact of 5G fake news
[47] Expansion magazine article about Trump’s repeated lies
[48] BBC article about Trump’s lies
[49] BBC article about the Cambridge Analytic scandal
[50] Pais de España article about Trump’s relation with Cambridge Analytic
[51] Pais de España article regarding the Cambridge Analytic scandal
[52] WHO article about the risk of mobile communications for health
[53] Xataca analysis on millimeter wave technology in 5G networks
[54] Interview with Frank Clegg creator of the association “Canadians for Safe Technology”
[55] National Geographic article about 5G technology and its features
[56] Xataca article: 5G will transform telecommunications
[57] World Health Organization article about the risk of radio frequencies in human health
[58] El Tiempo article: Beware of false news promoters
[59] Encyclopedic definition of Fake news
[60] Interview with Frank Clegg creator of the association “Canadians for Safe Technology”
[61] GSMA official website about the standardization process of the 5G mobile standard
[62] IEE article about the 5G standard
[63] Mexico’s excelsior article: China 70 years of Totalitarianism
[64] Ghatestone Institute article: China the perfect high-tech totalitarian state
[65] Encyclopedic article about George Orwell’s novel 1984
[66] Pais de España article about China’s Agenda of technology
[67] Jurnaly of Democracy article about the risk of technological control by China
[68] New York times article about the Chinese Model of Absolute Control
[69] Iberchina reference article
[70] BBC article about the geopolitical battle of 5G
Disclaimer: The published articles correspond to contextual reviews or analyses on digital transformation in the information society, duly supported by reliable and verified academic and/or journalistic sources. The publications are NOT opinion articles and therefore the information they contain does not necessarily represent Andinalink’s position, nor that of their authors or the entities with which they are formally linked, regarding the topics, persons, entities or organizations mentioned in the text.