Scaremongerers should not stop us getting the benefits of 5G

I write to you in regards to the 5G campaign being undertaken by ‘Say No to 5G’ on Guernsey. However, not with the intention you may presume.

We live in an age where demagoguery and scaremongering is leading to non-evidence-based decision-making. We see this in climate change denial, anti-MMR vaccine campaigns, anti-polio vaccine campaigns and Brexit. This anti-5G campaign is a perfect example of leveraging this age of populism for questionable motives. The Guernsey government and, by extension, its population should not become unwitting victims.

The fact is that the vast majority of scientists, cancer research organisations and governments agree there is no provable risk from 5G. This is easily demonstrable. Just check the websites of all the major cancer organisations: www.cancer.gov, www.cancerresearchuk.org, www.cancer.org, www.cancerwa.asn.au, etc.

If these organisations cannot be trusted and all the millions of pounds of research is fake, or the scientists incompetent or corrupt, the only logical conclusion is that there is a global organised conspiracy between cancer research organisations, scientists, governments and the telecom industry. I suggest this is a highly unlikely alliance.

The most basic science does not even allow for there to be a causal relationship between EMR (electromagnetic radiation) and cancer. It is not ionising radiation – frequency is too low to be able to damage DNA and it is emitted at power levels that cannot cause damage through heating (as a microwave oven does – and which it is explicitly designed to do). If there was an issue with this technology and man-made EMR generated over the past 80 years since the invention of radar, the negative health relationship would be obvious. It is clearly not.

Not satisfied with this, the anti-5Gers also say it is not the wavelength or power that is the issue, it is the type of signal – that it is pulsed, not smooth. No evidence for this ridiculous claim – just another random theory that they can use to scare people, using the precautionary principle of ‘evil until proven otherwise’. It is like trying to prove that invisible fairies do not run the world. It is impossible to prove a negative to 100% certainty. But heck, maybe those fairies do exist...

But what is a fact is that on a planet of eight billion people and thousands of competitive scientists and ‘health professionals’, you will always find someone who can be your charismatic poster-child victim, or some scientists wanting their flagging profile boosted. And the internet is a highly efficient means to distribute their exciting, engaging but misleading propaganda, packaged in a way to scare even the most logical of citizens.

Climate change denial is a perfect case in point – 97% of scientists agree that climate change is caused by humans. Yet the nonsense ‘papers’ and ‘evidence’ from the 3% are leveraged successfully to convince an army of vocal disbelievers. ‘Say No to 5G’ are doing exactly the same. Using poor science from a tiny minority of ‘professionals’ to whip up fear in the uninformed public.

Just another example of bad or unscrupulous scientists with a position or profile, being leveraged by one side or the other to support bad decisions based on false beliefs, myths and vested interests. It’s how religions have been made, from the beginning of civilisation.

The anti-5G religion has now started in Guernsey. The fact we now have an epidemiologist, using a ‘Nobel status’ from simply being one of 400 people on the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) to help justify getting airtime, coming here to scare the public and influence politicians, is a worrying development for Guernsey.

The tactics used by this person and the anti-5G group are misconstrued and erroneous at best, or deliberately misleading or deceptive at worst. They use examples of other cover-ups and bad industry behaviours to say ‘it happened with smoking/asbestos/DDT etc. so this is the same’. They talk of ‘cancer clusters’ around masts, when these are shown to be just statistical coincidences. They imply that 5G is simply a way to extract more profit and isn’t even necessary for economic development – who would like to go back to 3G? They highlight that EMR is considered as a possible carcinogen by the WHO – as are many other things we use on a daily basis – but fail to point out it doesn’t mean that it is a probable carcinogen – as it is not – they would rather present a partial argument to scare people for their own motives. And they use known bad science, with poor cause and effect conclusions or methodology, as illustrations.

All this is causing unnecessary fear in the population.

I see this myself in my mother, who feared for her own health from 5G and wi-fi because of this campaign. My mother doesn’t even know what electromagnetic radiation is, so is the perfect blank canvas for conversion to the cause. I am sure there are thousands like her in Guernsey, who can parrot this nonsense from the anti-5G truth vandals, and are targeted as such. This fear they unwittingly propagate is probably affecting anxiety levels and is a health concern in its own right.

There is nothing wrong with free speech. If someone wants to believe in a flat earth, invisible fairies running the world, or 5G causing cancer, that is their right. But Guernsey should not have its economic development and the benefits that stem from it stymied by such nonsensical beliefs. Politicians should listen to experts in the relevant field, not those with interests in making a scaremongering wagon and trying to get a band to travel on it. Goodness knows we have had enough poor decision-making on global macro issues over the past few years...

Notwithstanding the security concerns of using Chinese technology, I hope that you will help educate your colleagues and citizens as to the science, past research and true risks of this exciting technology and the benefits available to Guernsey, and follow the international guidelines and safety best practice for its implementation.

DANIEL ROBERTS