A recent survey commissioned by Compare the Market asked over 2,000 UK residents to answer “true”, “false” or “don’t know” to several myths surrounding 5G.
The roll-out of the 5G service in the UK has been a popular story within the media, and like with most new technologies, it’s not been without its share of conspiracy theories. In fact, at the beginning of the year, 77 phone masts were attacked due to the circulating myths around the new connection method.
As 5G continues to roll out across the UK, the results of the survey show just how many UK residents believe in these myths, and which cities most agree with the statements surrounding the new technology. This includes whether participants believe theories such as whether 5G is connected to the spread of Coronavirus, if 5G is being used as a spy for surveillance, and more.
The Results
While 23% are unsure, 7% of the UK population believe 5G is connected to the spread of Coronavirus – that’s equivalent to more than a whopping 4million people! 13% of 25-34-year olds believe this to be true – that’s the highest percentage than any other age group, followed by 10% of those aged 16-24 who also agree they are connected. Belfast has the biggest percentage of residents who also deem this to be true (12%), followed by Bristol (11%) and London (9%).
More than one fifth of men (21%) believe 5G is being used as a spy for surveillance. And while 17% of the whole of the UK think this is true, another 44% answered “don’t know”. Similarly, more than a fifth of 35-44-year olds and 21% of Brighton residents agree with this statement, more than anyone else across the UK.
Almost 30% of 16-24 year olds believe trees are being cut down due to 5G – that’s the highest percentage among the age groups, and is followed by 27% of those aged between 35 and 44. Overall, 21% of the UK believe this to be true and it’s Belfast’s residents that agree with this more than any other city (28%), followed by Bristol (27%) and Glasgow (25%).
Nearly one fifth (18%) of Bristol residents say they believe that “5G is making the human population stupid”. The city is closely followed by Belfast (16%) and Leeds (15%), while the national average here sits at 12%. 16-24-year olds are the age group that believes this the most with 17% agreeing to the myth.
More than one in ten (11%) say they believe that 5G radiation lowers human immune defences with Bristol residents buying into this theory the most (18%). A further 10% think 5G causes cancer, brain tumours or infertility, and it’s Belfast that has the highest percentage of respondents (18%) who agree with the latter statement the most.
Not all of the statements in the survey were false – Compare the Market also quizzed respondents on statements that are true to see if they believed them. Nearly two fifths of men (38%) correctly believe that self-driving cars will use 5G to talk to other cars, sensors, streetlamps and gas stations.
However, only 18% of women say they think this is true – that’s half the percentage of men. While 27% of the UK population did guess this correctly, over a third (35%) of Belfast’s residents believe this to be true, followed by Birmingham (31%) and Bristol (30%) – all above average. It was the 35-44-year olds that were clued up on this more than any other age group with 30% admitting they believed this statement.
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