20 masts hit by arsonists over 5G conspiracy
... as fury mounts over Holmes outburst
‘Hopelessly irresponsible’
ITV has been hit by a tide of complaints after presenter Eamonn Holmes appeared to promote conspiracy theories about coronavirus and 5G technology on This Morning.
The row came as it emerged that there were 20 suspected arson attacks against phone masts over the Easter weekend, with some wrongly believing that 5G technology has caused the pandemic.
Yesterday communications watchdog Ofcom said it was investigating comments Holmes made on the TV show – after it received at least 419 messages from outraged viewers.
The row broke out on Monday after the 60-year-old host said he did not accept the way ‘mainstream media’ had immediately discounted a theory linking the virus to the 5G mobile phone network. His comments sparked fury from viewers and scientists, with some warning his comments could help legitimise conspiracy theories.
Experts have previously ruled out any link between 5G and the virus, calling it a ‘physical and biological impossibility’ and branding ‘conspiracy theorists... a public health danger’.
According to the chief executive of Vodafone UK, one of the sites targeted over the weekend provides mobile connectivity to the Nightingale hospital in Birmingham, set up to cater for coronavirus patients.
Nick Jeffery said: ‘Burning down masts means damaging important national infrastructure.’ He warned that it could mean families ‘not being able to say a final goodbye to their loved ones’. On the TV show on Monday, presenter Alice Beer described the conspiracy theories as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘incredibly stupid’. Holmes then responded, telling her: ‘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. 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.’ Yesterday on the show, Holmes tried to clarify his comments from the day before, but offered no apology.
He told viewers they could have ‘misinterpreted’ his comments, adding: ‘Both Alice Beer and myself agreed in a discussion on fake news that it’s not true and there is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be possibly dangerous.
‘However, many people are rightly concerned and are looking for answers and that’s simply what I was trying to do, to impart yesterday.’
Former BBC executive Mark Damazer criticised Holmes yesterday, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was ‘a hopelessly irresponsible, unbelievably light-headed, stupid piece of broadcasting’.
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