Fact Check: Are 5G experiments responsible for large-scale death of birds in Italy?

Claim: 5G experiments killed many birds in Italy

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Are The WHO Lockdown Protocol And Procedure For COVID-19 In India True?

What is the rumour about?

• 5G experiments have been linked to the death of many birds that have been found lying dead on the streets of Italy. 
• While many social media forwards have linked the "5G killing birds" incident to the Netherlands, some have started to link it with Sweden and Italy as well. 
• Some posts are even linking the incident to coronavirus pandemic. 

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Is Tiger King Positive For Coronavirus? Did He Contract The Virus In Prison?

Who started the rumour?

• Social media forwards

Image courtesy: Twitter

Image courtesy: Twitter

Image courtesy: Twitter

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Is China Experiencing A Second Wave Of Coronavirus Infection Already?

Google Trends 

After an analysis of the Google Trends with respect to the dead birds in Italy rumour, one can see that people have been hugely interested to know whether birds died in Italy due to 5G issues. The maximum number of searches have been done on April 5, 2020, and the searches are rising slowly day by day. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends 

ALSO READ| Fact Check - Can Government Read WhatsApp Chats Based On The Number Of Ticks You See?

Rating: False

Republic World did a fact check on the "dead birds in Italy" rumour

• Republic World found the claims about 5G causing the death of birds in Italy to be False. 
• The image that is circulating is found to be from the mass die-off of starlings in the Netherlands in 2018, and it's relation to 5G is not proven as of yet.  
• In 2018, at a park in Hague, Netherlands, a mysterious mass die-off (starlings and some pigeons) of the birds actually occurred on October 19, 2018. But the cause of their death couldn't be found. Some ruled it out saying that it might be mass poisoning or some viral infection or mysterious death. But no proper response came from the officials. 
• That time, in 2018, many conspiracy theories started which termed that the mass die-off in the Netherlands occurred due to a 5G antenna test. However, there is no proper evidence from any officials that could substantiate the claims of 5G experiments in the Netherlands. 
• Many people like John Kuhles and Erin Elizabeth started writing about their conspiracy theories through their Facebook pages, without any proper proof to validate their claims of 5G experiments actually being responsible for the death of birds. Though they have now removed their Facebook posts. 
• Mysterious bird deaths are actually not an uncommon phenomenon and are seen once in a while in some locations due to unknown reasons. In 2011 in Arkansas, Louisiana, and parts of Sweden were said to have witnessed such mysterious deaths of birds as well. 

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Did Kathleen O’Mara Actually Write A Pandemic Poem In 1919?

• According to a paper published in the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and published on the NCBI website, the researchers termed the 5G frequencies to be safe and to be causing no adverse health effects. Here is the snip of the paper. 

Image courtesy: NCBI

Is there any rumour you want Republic World to do a fact check on? Do you have facts on a rumour? Share your pictures or videos with Republic World on contact@republicworld.com or comment on this story itself. 

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Is Sandra The Orangutan Washing Hands Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic?

ALSO READ| Fact Check: Did Italians Sing Chinese Song To Thank China For COVID-19 Aid?