5G virus conspiracy theory fuelled by coordinated effort involving bot accounts, researchers say
- A conspiracy theory linking 5G technology to the coronavirus is getting a boost from what some researchers say is a coordinated disinformation campaign
- Researchers found a large number of social media accounts showing ‘inauthentic’ or suspicious activity on Twitter and Reddit
Marc Owen Jones, a researcher at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, who specialises in online disinformation networks, analysed 22,000 recent interactions on Twitter mentioning “5G” and “corona,” and said he found a large number of accounts displaying what he termed “inauthentic activity.” He said the effort bears some hallmarks of a state-backed campaign.
“There are very strong indications that some of these accounts are a disinformation operation,” Jones said.
Jones said the campaign uses a strategy similar to Russia’s internet Research Agency, which was behind a disinformation campaign during the 2016 US presidential campaign. But he said he has not yet concluded that Russia, or any other government or organisation, is behind the effort.
There has been a “significant uptick in inauthentic amplification” of posts on social media linking 5G to the coronavirus, UzZaman said, indicating that there could be a coordinated campaign and bot accounts involved. The company says it uses a system that analyses language, communication patterns, post volumes and bot activity to identify social media posts that are “inauthentic” and attempting to manipulate online discussion.