The alarming sight of a flaming phone mast set alight by conspiracy theorists has enraged Government ministers.
The arsonists were apparently motivated by a false belief that 5G helps spread coronavirus, something that Downing Street has described as a “crazed conspiracy theory”.
The conspiracy theory can be traced to repeated broadcasts, in English, from Russian media, aimed at Western audiences.
For many years, Facebook has resisted calls to ban 5G conspiracy theories on its site, citing a commitment to free speech.
But the social media giant was forced to reconsider this when the theories became entangled with the coronavirus outbreak and slipped from online into the real world. James Cook has more detail.
Last week phone masts were set alight by believers in the baseless theory that coronavirus has anything at all to do with the new, faster 5G internet speeds being rolled out around the world.
There's evidence that the 5G conspiracies began as a Russia-backed disinformation campaign, with the first posts linking it to coronavirus appearing on social media all the way back in January.
But this weekend risks to the life and limb of workers trying to patch up the UK's internet infrastructure has finally pushed Facebook to act.
The company says it will now begin to delete posts which link 5G to coronavirus and could cause physical harm, putting the burden on its army of fact-checkers to determine what fits this definition.
The theory might be new, but the crisis sheds light on an old moderation problem for Facebook.
From antivax to mass shootings, few conspiracy theories that spread online stay there.
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