On January 25, a first global day of protest against 5G technology will take place. Over 205 events in more than 195 cities in 32 countries are being planned for Saturday, January 25, as well as some on Friday, January 24, when government offices are open, and on Sunday, January 26.

Stop 5G International is a campaign that is demanding a moratorium on the wide-scale implementation of 5G technologies on earth and in space, for scientific reasons, due to their potential impact on health, wildlife, the environment, energy consumption, e-waste, privacy and cybersecurity, among other reasons.

The International EMF (electromagnetic field) Scientist Appeal, signed in 2015 by more than 240 scientists with published peer-reviewed research on the biologic and health effects of wireless radiation, states that: “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans. Damage goes well beyond the human race, as there is growing evidence of harmful effects to both plant and animal life.”

A more recent appeal addressed to the UN and governments, launched by scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and citizens, that has already gathered more than 194,000 signatures, calls for a moratorium on 5G space technology.  It argues that “5G will massively increase exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation on top of the 2G, 3G and 4G networks for telecommunications already in place. RF radiation has been proven harmful for humans and the environment. The deployment of 5G constitutes an experiment on humanity and the environment that is defined as a crime under international law.”

The Stop 5G campaign website explains the basis for concern about 5G technology in numerous aspects:  “5G is a massive biological experiment inflicted on the public without informed consent, with no prior safety testing, and with credible scientific evidence indicating this technology will prove harmful to health and fatal to some.  Once 4G/5G antennas are densely installed in communities around the globe, no one will be able to escape continuous, involuntary exposure to non-ionizing radiation. The unborn child, young children, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses, microwave sickness, or compromised immune systems will be particularly vulnerable.”

Among the dangers for wildlife, biologists have discovered that wireless electromagnetic radiation disturbs internal magneto-receptors used for navigation, as well as disrupting other complex cellular and biologic processes in mammals, birds, fish, insects, trees, plants, seeds and bacteria with profound impacts on the natural environment.  “Radiation has also been implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder. The shorter millimeter wave frequencies that will be used for 5G will be yet more perilous than 2G, 3G, and 4G, as insects are millimeter-sized creatures and will selectively absorb and amplify these frequencies,” according to the campaign website.

These risks for human health and wildlife will be far greater if plans for massive satellite launches go ahead, that will leave no area of the earth free of radiation.  Massively deployed wireless systems will also exponentially increase the possibilities for surveillance and invasion of privacy, and they are more vulnerable to hacking than wired systems.

Moreover, astronomers denounce that the plans to launch thousands of low orbit satellites will completely alter the night sky.  A new petition recently launched by astronomers, gathering signatures this week, denounces the imminent launch of another 60 satellites by the company SpaceX, that will bring the present total to 240.  The petition explains that most of the satellites will be visible to the naked eye. If tens of thousands of them are launched, they will ruin the night sky for all of humanity. The satellites will not only “greatly outnumber the approximately 9,000 stars that are visible to the unaided human eye,” but will “reach the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minor constellation,” and will be “exceeded in brightness only by 172 stars in the whole sky.”

The Stop 5G campaign considers that a safer and more reliable, tried and true solution is to use wired technology to every home, business and school, a technology proven over more than 20 years. “If our internet and telecommunications infrastructure were primarily wired, this would allow us to reduce our exposure to, and dependence on, cell towers, wireless antennas and satellites.  Furthermore, wired is far superior as it is more energy-efficient and far more reliable than wireless… Above all, wired is significantly less hazardous to our health and to the health of other life forms with whom we share this earth.”

So far, Latin America is notably absent in this campaign and no Latin American country appears on the list of activities planned for the day of protest.  It's also true that there is little información available in Spanish.

- Sally Burch, British-Ecuadorian journalist, ALAI.