The outbreak of COVID-19 has been mirrored by various conspiracy theories and misinformation regarding its origin, how it spreads, and the possible treatment. When the pandemic started, it was all over the media that 5G mobile networks were linked to the coronavirus. This led to the arson attacks on many network towers in Europe. It was said that the 5G had created the virus; thus, they needed to destroy the towers. However, this was not clear since COVID-19 was also said to have its origin in China Laboratories. I did not understand the link between the 5G networks and the coronavirus until I found other sources that indeed confirmed that the information I had received was inaccurate.
The article “Misinformation about COVID-19: Evidence for differential latent profiles and a strong association with trust in science” by Agley and Xiao in 2021 cleared my confusion. From their report, I learned that the link of the 5G network to coronavirus was just a conspiracy theory. It was disgusting how the networks that should be connecting people and helping others get the required information regarding the rampant spread of the pandemic was being destroyed without any valid ground.
I trusted the information from the article since it was a peer-reviewed journal. This proves that it was written by experts in the field of public health and reviewed before it was published. The article was also up to date, making its information reliable. The authors did not seem biased since they supported their research with other credible sources. Moreover, they give a list of conspiracy theories during the outbreak that greatly confused the public. Such proves that they had adequate information regarding the misinformation about COVID-19.
Reference
Agley, J., & Xiao, Y. (2021). Misinformation about COVID-19: Evidence for differential latent profiles and a strong association with trust in science.BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-12.