5G: It's Fast Doe

About

It's Fast Doe is a catchphrase associated with the 5G cellular data network and is used in memes referencing the conspiracy theory that 5G causes cancer. The format saw a resurgence in April 2020 following the spread of the conspiracy theory linking the COVID-19 pandemic to the development of the 5G network.

Origin

The earliest mentions of a conspiracy linked to the development of 5G cellular data network can be traced to July 2016 post on the "Web of Evidence" website.^[1]

In early May 2019 , a photograph of a man in a protective suit working on a telecommunications tower went viral online on Instagram,^[2] Facebook and other sites, with the caption falsely claiming that the man was wearing a hazmat radiation suit while installing a 5G tower (image shown below). On May 12th, 2019, iFunny^[3] user iWoke posted the image, with the post gaining over 56,600 smiles in one year.

On May 16th, 2019, the viral image was proven fake by fact-checking website Snopes:^[4] cell towers generate only non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation that does not have sufficient energy to damage DNA, the tower shown in the photograph is not a 5G tower, the workers are not required to wear hazmat suits while working on telecomunnication towers and the worker in the photograph is wearing a Tyvek suit which does not protect one from radiation.

The image prompted an increase in the amount of anti-5G memes, at that time already present^[5][6] on iFunny. On June 14th, 2019, iFunny^[7] user Pakistan posted a meme based on an image of a ghoul from Fallout video game series captioned "5G Users Be Like: Yeah It's Fast Doe." The post received over 2,600 smiles in one year, being reposted on Instagram and other platforms in the following months.

Spread

The post spawned a meme format in which various mutated or disfigured creatures commented on 5G network, praising its speed. During Summer 2019, the format saw a moderate spread online with posts on Reddit,^[8] iFunny^[9] and Instagram (examples shown below, left and right).

In April 2020, following the spread of the conspiracy theory linking the coronavirus outbreak to the development of 5G network, the format saw a resurgence online. For ex/memes/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theoryample, an April 5th, 2020, tweet^[10] by @ech0astral received over 55 retweet and 380 likes in two weeks (shown below, right). An April 10th tweet^[11] by @BasedLoller3 gained over 40 retweets and 150 likes in one week (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References