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Russia's Anti-5G Propaganda Campaign Is Spreading Across Social Media (venturebeat.com) 137

An anonymous reader quotes Fierce Wireless: Earlier this week, the New York Times published a story with the headline "Your 5G Phone Won't Hurt You. But Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise." [Non-paywalled MSN version here.] The story outlined how RT, the Russia-backed and U.S.-based television network, has been peddling 5G cancer fear-mongering stories, making claims that 5G causes brain cancer, infertility, autism, Alzheimer's and other health disorders.

The Times reports RT has run seven such programs this year, including pieces entitled "5G Apocalypse" and "Experiment on Humanity." The Times article claims that disinformation in these news segments has spread across Facebook, YouTube and TV news channels, and that news outlets almost never mention RT's Russian origins. Anna Belkina, RT's head of communications in Moscow, told the Times in an email, "Unlike many other media, we show the breadth of debate." But, U.S. officials have accused RT of being the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet.

VentureBeat adds that the New York Times "has accused Russian broadcaster RT America of stoking health-related 5G disinformation in an effort to delay other countries while Russia prepares to belatedly launch the new technology," adding that at least one of the programs told its viewers in America that 5G "might kill you...."

"Meanwhile, efforts to launch 5G networks are underway within Russia itself, and the New York Times reports that Russians have embraced even more extreme views on the high-frequency wireless signals: It's believed that they can be used to heal wounds, fight hair loss, rejuvenate skin, and treat cancer."
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Russia's Anti-5G Propaganda Campaign Is Spreading Across Social Media

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  • Name things right... #ColdWarFeelings
    • Right, this does seem like it's about Huawei... but why? The meme is that Trump is Putin's little bitch, but what's in this for Putin?
      • Huawei don't comply with NSA backdoors, therefore can't make western infrastructure :P
        • American infrastructure. No other countries are banning Huawei, despite Trump's efforts. That includes Russia. Yet Russia is indirectly backing this, but only within the US... I can only think that Russia sees some benefit in perpetuating the US-China trade war.
          • The US Administration efforts go way beyond than that...

            Yet Russia is indirectly backing this

            Q.E.D.
            * "United States" infrastructure, not "American": here, Brazil, is an "American" country, you know...

          • by Quantum gravity ( 2576857 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @04:47PM (#58615344)
            Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan and the US are banning or phasing out the Huawei as of May 2. Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands are considering it. UK will ban Huawei from core parts of infrastructure, while Germany and France will add extra security. The US case against Huawei includes allegations of fraud and stealing trade secrets.
            • Replying to myself the UK ban is just a proposal just yet.
              • The UK received "clarification" from the US after that draft proposal was leaked, so it seems highly unlikely.

                It was clarified that equipment is either connected to the internal network, or it isn't. This isn't about checking a box, or dealing with known threats, it is about denying access to actors believed to be at substantially increased likelihood of being a security problem in the future; ie, there is a new Cold War developing between the US and China.

                Germany may or may not end their data sharing with

            • Do you give any credibility to the idea that if they can wander around the courtyard at will they can't get into the keep?

            • India will surely follow along at some point.
          • I can only think that Russia sees some benefit in perpetuating the US-China trade war.

            Surely I'm not the only one who sees that the US and Russia have been a concerted game of 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' for over seventy-five years...

        • The backdoors are likely the same, only the skeleton keys are different.
      • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 18, 2019 @04:06PM (#58615200)

        Amplification of existing social divides.

        That's all the propaganda's been about really. When the Russians were hyping Black Lives Matter ( https://slate.com/technology/2018/05/russian-trolls-are-obsessed-with-black-lives-matter.html [slate.com] ) the point was not to better the lives of black people, but to sow division. Any idea that has two sides and strong emotions can be used to further divide a society. 5G is no different.

        That means that it probably is NOT about Huawei: it's just about making Americans angrier at each other.

      • ... but what's in this for Putin?

        A discount. Have you seen the room, greens and cart fees at Trump's hotels and golf clubs? Just ask the Secret Service ...

  • Thank goodness... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Archtech ( 159117 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @03:44PM (#58615142)

    ... that no good healthy red-blooded American news media have given any coverage at all to wild ideas that a vast (and highly profitable) new industry might have some downsides for ordinary people.

    Because of course that could never happen.

    • Decimeter or better accuracy of cellphone locations so that individuals can be identified and tracked by their cell phone signals on a level that makes current cell phone tracking look positively pedestrian.

      With the newfound accuracy, combined with facial recognition utilizing feeds from 'traffic cameras' as well as urban 'we're not a surveillance state' cameras on major buildings and utility poles, they will be able to build up comprehensive models of each individual's build, facial features and common clo

    • by Z80a ( 971949 )

      On the other hand, someone might be taking advantage of the mistrust of the population on the corporations to cause further damage to something that might just be harmless.
      This is why it's important to have a truly trustworthy source of news.
      If you don't, everyone ends being just as trustworthy.

      • This is why it's important to have a truly trustworthy source of news.

        Let us know when you find one. It will be the greatest breakthrough in history.

        • by Z80a ( 971949 )

          There never been a perfect source of news, but before the whole "twitter counts as news" and "let's burn all our credibility to try to stop trump", they at least were trustworthy enough to stand out from 4chan trolling.
          Now its all noise.

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      This is a stupid story spread by the New York Times a dying propaganda rag, basically advertising as news because they were backed by an incumbent US Telecom. They went for the eww Russia shite because they figured it was the easiest marketing to push 5G. Basically you are a communist?!? if you do not support 5G. The whole storey is silly shite.

      The only interesting thing in the 5G story both Japan and Australia will be over a year behind the rest of the world in implementation of 5G. They launched 5G in Au

    • by UWM ( 1162951 )
      <quote><p>... that no good healthy red-blooded American news media have given any coverage at all to wild ideas that a vast (and highly profitable) new industry might have some downsides for ordinary people.</p><p>Because of course that could never happen.</p></quote>

      The "downsides for ordinary people" might exist, but they are not the consequences that the Russian Propaganda Machine is pushing.
  • High Frequency? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by sibsybcys ( 820086 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @03:48PM (#58615148)
    I may just be a lowly amateur "ham" radio operator but how on earth is the 5G spectrum "High Frequency?" I believe it falls well into the gigahertz bands. When I think HF I think 10 - 160 meters.
    • Well, 160 meter is in the kilohertz range I believe, and giga is bigger than kilo so would you rather it be called higher frequency?

      But the bigger issue is that 5G has nothing to do with what frequency it operates on. Can work anywhere you have a license for (or unlicensed spectrum). And if they are taking the position of gigahertz RF being worse for someone than lower bands, they forgot how gigahertz RF won't even penetrate past much skin.

      • Re:High Frequency? (Score:5, Informative)

        by SuricouRaven ( 1897204 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @04:26PM (#58615274)

        There's an order.
        LF (Grandad's radio)
        MF
        HF (Hams)
        VHF (FM radio)
        UHF (Lots and lots of things)
        SHF (Here lies the 5GHz band)
        EHF (Things which are too expensive to produce for consumer use.
        TH (It's barely even radio, and even more expensive - good for airport naked-scanners though.)

    • by fred911 ( 83970 )

      "When I think HF I think 10 - 160 meters."

      Now you'll really confuse them attempting to understand the difference between wavelength and frequency. You're correct anything above is VHF (2 meter), UHV (70 centimeter) and Microwave. But why confuse Joe 6 pack with fact?

           

    • Your problem is you have a handicap called "knowledge". You need to put on your stupid hat when you read the media. In which case 5G = higher frequency, and since 4G is normal 5G must therefore be high, and high means more betterness and much goodness. After all that's what the G stands for right?
      https://dilbert.com/strip/2011... [dilbert.com]

    • Being a lowly amateur neckbeard, you can't accept that a word would have more than one meaning.

      When confronted with a narrow technical word and a general word with the same spelling and a different meaning, you're required to pretend that you only know about the more technical word. Because if anybody saw you understanding English, you'd somehow be less of a neckbeard. And your neckbeard is your source of Virtue, evidence of your Merit.

      Even when it is a simple adjective like "high." There can only be one le

  • by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @04:05PM (#58615194)

    Russia's troll farms have just found another issue to use for stirring up discord with.
    Nothing really new. It's just the way things are these days ...

    • by hey! ( 33014 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @06:50PM (#58615882) Homepage Journal

      It's important to remember those troll farms don't fund themselves. They are agents of the people for whom and ultimately by whom the Russian government is run, who are attempting to undermine American society.

      They are, quite literally, enemies of the United States. They themselves *aren't* a state, but they *have* a state which they control. Americans who intentionally work with them should be regarded as traitors, and Americans who do so because they're careless are little better.

      • Sounds like you're trying to make Americans turn on each other by declaring each other traitors based on who their associates are. How much is Russia paying you?

      • Nice try, Ivan, but we Americans have a strong tradition of dissent and saying whatever the hell we want. Calling fellow Americans traitors just because a foreign country says so isn't what we do. You think they'll have kasha for lunch today, comrade?
    • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Russia has much sway at top levels of NSA on use of 5G in the USA?
    • by SlaveToTheGrind ( 546262 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @08:27PM (#58616316)

      Russia's troll farms have just found another issue to use for stirring up discord with

      Sorta like how Slashdot has figured out how to stir up discord/maximize clicks by posting a stream of divisive articles like this (and very little else) these days?

      • by Anonymous Coward

        You hit the enemy at their weak points AND you use their nature against themselves. It's like political Martial Arts; and at this the Russians are skilled at.

        Americans and their media have bad self destructive behaviors and once you find those you nudge them. There is a book called Nudge that had some attention years ago that tended to go in another way but loosely similar as far as how Nudging can get people to act on things they nearly would but all they need is a nudge to push them past the threshold. O

    • by Anonymous Coward

      They've been doing this forever.

      "Aids is a CIA plot" is theirs. It's known and documented extensively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Infektion

      Yet, today it persists as a fairly widespread and widely believed conspiracy theory.

  • Must get a new tin foil hat

  • by Hentai007 ( 188457 ) on Saturday May 18, 2019 @04:23PM (#58615254)

    So many anonymous comments saying Russia is right. What are the odds.

    • Because we're surrounded by traitors! I swear it's Red Scare Part II around here these days. It was never a crime to say that America could be improved with socialism and Black Lives Matter is a real movement. Just because "those dirty foreigners" say something doesn't make it untrue.
    • If you want proof that quite a lot of those anonymous Russian trolls also have real Slashdot IDs too, just watch how fast you get modded down for pointing out the irrefutable fact that Vladimir Putin managed to install his personal puppet as president of the United States in the last election, and is currently fighting with Benjamin Netanyahu for control of the US Senate and House.

      • ...Vladimir Putin managed to install his personal puppet as president of the United States in the last election

        You poor, drooling nitwit: the wealthiest of the wealthy managed to install their personal puppet as president of the United States... an individual who, for whatever reason, was elected instead of their other puppets.

        Your echo-chamber naivete can be found anywhere; it's not special.

  • Russia has 5G ready to sell to the world as part of trade deal.
    Big new science factory in Kaliningrad near global export hub of Amsterdam can make Russian 5G for the world.
    Russian 5G is fully ready for your nations communications needs.
    Advanced Russian antenna design is much lower cost and very powerful.
    Longer range and ready for big new data plans.
    From hot climate to very cold climate. Russian 5G is tested for all climate changes.
    Good value for your telco with less direct and indirect costs.
    With
  • Is that existing infrastructure will be seeing upgrades, yet areas with little to no 4g coverage are still left in the dust. I'm really tired of seeing the population centers get the best stuff while the rest of us get complete garbage service or no service at all. Let's get basic coverage over the entire nation before we throw more money at upgrading the places which already have good coverage.

  • So, are all the anti 5g posters here on Slashdot all Russian spies/trolls?
    • It's all on YouTube and other well-respected forums for reasoned public discourse. Right next to Flat Earth.

      • Lol, I actually can't wait for true 5g. But, again. I have seen more anti 5g comments here than anyplace else.
  • 5G and lots of warning from scientists independent from telecom industry about its real dangers to health. But you will possibly be visited by knowlegable people who must be connected to telecom industry and will go out of heir way to discredit anything you say, discredit facts you provide, labelling what scientists say as not reliable, hypothesis. Why then does telecom industry only use a Jesus PLASTIC HEAD to determine safety for us, the heating effect? Any of you have a PLASTIC HEAD? And they hire psycho

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