Coronavirus: Ofcom To Investigate Eamonn Holmes Over 5G Comments

Another celebrity has displayed remarkably poor judgement regarding the conspiracy theory that 5G is behind the Coronavirus pandemic.

This time the latest ill-informed celebrity is ITV’s This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes, who on Monday cast doubts on media reports that debunk the false rumour that 5G causes the virus “when they don’t know it’s not true.”

His comments triggered over 400 complaints and media watchdog Ofcom reportedly said it was assessing Holmes comments “as a priority.”

Conspiracy theory

Holmes reportedly made his original remarks in a segment with the programme’s consumer editor Alice Beer, who dismissed the theory as “not true and it’s incredibly stupid”.

“I totally agree with everything you are saying but what I don’t accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don’t know it’s not true,” Holmes reportedly responded.

“No-one should attack or damage or do anything like that, but it’s very easy to say it is not true because it suits the state narrative,” he added. “That’s all I would say, as someone with an inquiring mind.”

“However many people are rightly concerned and are looking for answers and that’s simply what I was trying to do, to impart yesterday,” Holmes was reported by the BBC as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

“But for the avoidance of any doubt I want to make it completely clear there’s no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories. I hope that clears that up,” he said.

Whether that half hearted retraction will assuage Ofcom’s investigation remains to be seen.

Last week YouTube banned all conspiracy theory videos that falsely link 5G networks to the spread of Coronavirus.

It comes after at least 20 mobile phone masts across the UK were torched or otherwise vandalised last week. The damaged mobile phones masts were reportedly clustered mostly around Liverpool and the West Midlands.

Mobile phone masts have also been attacked in Holland.

Foolish celebrities

The damage to mobile phone masts at a time like this, when a global pandemic has triggered heavy reliance on communication technology, beggars belief.

Matters have not been helped by ill-informed celebrities who have highlighted the false link between 5G and Coronavirus.

Last month an American singer/songwriter claimed 5G networks were to blame for the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. She subsequently retracted her claims.

Other celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon, including Amanda Holden who tweeted a link to an anti-5G petition to her almost 2 million followers.

Boxer Amir Khan, actor Woody Harrelson, and even conspiracy theorist David Icke have published similar claims. Indeed, Icke had live-streamed an interview on YouTube, in which he had linked the technology to the pandemic.

Last month experts at the International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) declared that 5G was safe for human health.

ICNIRP is based in Germany, and it is the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation.

Earlier this year the UK communications regulator Ofcom carried out safety tests in the UK of 5G base stations and found that there is no danger to the public posed by electromagnetic energy (EME) levels.

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