In April, dozens of mobile phone towers were set on fire across Britain and demonstrators took to the streets to protest the rollout of 5G. They had the bizarre and entirely false idea that phone towers were somehow causing coronavirus.

Fake news and conspiracy theories were given a huge boost by the Covid-19 pandemic, and many of the whispers coalesced around politicians, scientists, and former Microsoft chief executive Bill Gates.

They weren’t true of course, so why did people believe them? We speak to protestors who were sucked into the rabbit hole - and question one of the key players responsible for spreading the myth.

Presenters: Mike Wendling and Marianna Spring
Producer: Sam Judah

Photo caption: A mobile phone tower
Photo credit: Getty Images