AAP Fact Check – An Australian playwright and activist claims the World Health Organisation (WHO) controls and operates the global fifth-generation (5G) communications network.
This claim is false. 5G is not run by a single individual or organization. The network has been developed by several global technology companies and research institutes.
The WHO, a United Nations agency that promotes health and safety and coordinates responses to global health emergencies, has no role in running 5G networks.
Playwright Michael Gray Griffiths made the claim in a Facebook video discussion published on May 21, 2024.
“The organization that runs 5G around the world — and I’m not gonna lie — is the WHO,” he said (2 hours 13 minutes 4 seconds).
“That means the World Health Organization is in charge of 5G around the world.”
Gray Griffiths runs the Cafe Locked Out Facebook page, which has previously published misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine and politics.
Asked about the basis for the WHO’s claim that it controls the world’s 5G networks, Gray Griffiths said: AAP Fact Check He could not reveal his sources for “ethical” reasons.
Introduced in 2019, “5G” refers to a global wireless technology protocol used for mobile and internet services that offers faster speeds and shorter response times than 4G.
The Australian government describes 5G as “not a single product, but an industry standard for communications companies (known as carriers) to deploy 5G technology on equipment that uses radio waves.”
Professor Blanka Vucetich, a communications expert at the University of Sydney, described claims that 5G is controlled by the WHO as “complete nonsense”.
She said 5G protocols are developed by 3GPP, a consortium of standards bodies that is continually updating the standards to ensure compatibility between 5G networks around the world.
The networks are operated by mobile operators over radio frequencies allocated by national governments.
In Australia, 5G spectrum licences are allocated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
“Many companies around the world are manufacturing 5G equipment, including networks and devices,” Professor Vucetich said. AAP Fact Check.
Associate Professor Philip Branch, a telecommunications expert at Swinburne University of Technology, agrees that the claim is false.
“Communications networks don’t work that way,” he said. AAP Fact Check.
“Telecommunications companies such as Telstra, Optus and Vodafone operate 5G networks around the world.
“The WHO has nothing to do with this.”
Dr Branch says telecommunications systems have “very strict standards” that dictate exactly how they must operate.
“For people who aren’t familiar with the system, it might seem like there has to be some kind of authority over everything for it to work, but there isn’t one.”
WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said the claims were “untrue and misleading”.
He said the WHO “provides scientific and health advice, convenes experts and coordinates risk assessments” but is not involved in the operation of 5G networks.
“WHO only provides advice. WHO has no control over 5G networks. Such claims are false,” he said. AAP Fact Check.
The WHO established the International EMF Project in 1996 to assess the evidence of possible health effects from exposure to electromagnetic fields, including 5G, but does not control any networks.
AAP Fact Check The company has previously denied claims that 5G base stations emit dangerously high levels of radiation.
verdict
The claim that the World Health Organization runs the global 5G network is false.
Experts say 5G will not be controlled by any single person or organization.
The network was developed by several global technology companies and research institutions.
error – That claim is inaccurate.
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