FULL CLAIM: 5G at 60 GHz “stops the human body and blood absorbing oxygen. They will just collapse in the street”; “Those symptoms, that outcome, is so exactly what this doctor in New York is describing” in COVID-19 cases
In March 2022, a Facebook reel originating from TikTok that featured conspiracy theorist and former football player David Icke went viral. In it, Icke wrongly claimed that the 60 GHz frequency of 5G “stops the human body and blood absorbing oxygen”, an outcome compatible with COVID-19 symptoms. The video received more than 455,000 views on Facebook and 345,000 on TikTok. Other iterations of the same claim also appeared on TikTok.
The Tiktok video clip is part of an interview with Icke on the U.K. online channel London Real on 6 April 2020, in which Icke made several false claims linking 5G technology and the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview was live streamed on YouTube receiving millions of views at the time.
Since the 1990s, Icke has been well-known for promoting conspiracy theories, of which the London Real interview is yet another example. Following Icke’s interview, YouTube tightened its guidelines on COVID-19 misinformation to include “conspiracy theories which claim that the symptoms are caused by 5G”. In May 2020, Facebook and YouTube removed Icke’s accounts for violating their policies on harmful misinformation, with Twitter following suit in November 2020.
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