Twitter is flagging posts wrongly linking 5G with Covid-19 as needing fact-checking

Posts making the link between the two subjects are tagged with a label urging readers to "Get the facts" (Picture: Twitter)

Twitter's algorithms are flagging posts as needing fact-checking when they falsely link new high-speed 5G mobile networks and the coronavirus.

A label has been added to conspiracy theory tweets on the subject, which tells users to "get the facts about Covid-19” when its software detects the wording.

Clicking on the alert redirects to a short explainer page stating: “No, 5G isn’t causing coronavirus.”

The page also includes links to news stories on the subject, government agencies and fact-checking organisations, in a bid to counter conspiracy theory tweets on the platform.

Furthermore, if UK users type the search term they will see a British government statement saying there is “no evidence of a link” between 5G and coronavirus.

This is what users see if they search the term directly (Twitter)

However, hoax tweets would be allowed to stay publicly visible unless they are considered a “call to action that could potentially cause harm”, Twitter said.

It comes after a string of incidents where online hysteria has had real-world consequences, with scores of 5G mobile towers attacked in Britain and telecoms engineers harassed in the street.

At the same time, London security researchers last week debunked a £340 “anti-5G” device that claimed to shield users from electromagnetic rays, but upon being torn down turned out to be a common-or-garden USB stick likely worth just a few pounds.

Its UK distributor is now being investigated by trading standards.

The firm behind this £340 USB stick claiming to be an

There is no evidence connecting 5G and the pandemic, with the World Health Organisation adding an update on the subject to its “Myth busters" page.

The WHO said: "Viruses cannot travel on radio waves/mobile networks."

Introduction of Twitter's labelling system on the subjects comes after the social network last month promised to fact-check coronavirus misinformation.

A Twitter spokesperson said that the labels and warning messages aimed to "provide additional context and information on some tweets containing disputed or misleading information related to Covid-19”.

She added: "We’re prioritising the removal of Covid-19 content when it has a call to action that could potentially cause harm.

"As we’ve said previously, we will not take enforcement action on every Tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about Covid-19.”