A UK High Court judge has blocked a crowdfunded legal case attempting to stop the rollout of the 5G network, but the group behind the lawsuit has pledged to go ahead with their efforts to obtain a judicial review, the BBC reports.
The news outlet cited Mrs Justice Foster as saying that “the real issue is that the claimants disagree with a large body of international opinion as to the safety of 5G”.
The judge added that decisions about the rollout of the 5G technology were for the government and that the technical advice it had received "does not support the claimants' concerns".
The government's defence, in turn, referred to advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Health England arguing that the 5G network is safe.
Foster wrote in her judgement that “the defendants have set out their (rational, scientifically based) view that there is nothing fundamentally different about the physical characteristics of the radio signals produced by 5G compared to those produced by 3G and 4G”.
She also agreed with the government's rationale that the lawsuit was "out of time", pointing to the fact that the case-related correspondence began in 2020. However, Britain’s four main mobile operators started rolling out their 5G networks in 2019, after the government revealed its 5G strategy in 2017.
The Action Against 5G group, which earlier raised more than £160,000 ($223, 111) using the CrowdJustice platform to file the case, said in turn that it is "supported by many people nationwide from all walks of life including doctors and scientists”.
The group accused the UK government of failing to protect citizens from health risks that allegedly emanate from 5G networks and which ostensibly further add to the hazards related to radiation from mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks, and smart devices.
According to the BBC, the group’s legal action was initiated on behalf of three complainants, including two who are fighting the rollout of the 5G technology and a third person claiming that she has already been affected by the network.
Rosalyn Rock was quoted as claiming that in April and May 2020, she started to feel ill as she suffered blisters to her skin, which prompted her to contact Hounslow City Council to obtain information about 5G masts and possible radiation from street lights. The council responded by asserting that there was no 5G equipment in the street lighting.
Ofcom Report Reveals 5G Mast Vandalism Amid COVID Conspiracies
In late 2020, the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom revealed in a report that 159 5G operator masts were attacked by Brits in 2020 over COVID-19 conspiracy theories, leading to roughly 170,000 hours of network downtime.
The survey found that vandals in the UK had launched an unprecedented number of attacks on British 5G infrastructure due to the conspiracy theories.
“Over this year, a number of unsubstantiated claims have circulated, often through social media. Prior to this, there were also false claims that the Electromagnetic Field (EMF) emissions of 5G base stations posed an increased risk to people’s health”, the report noted at the time.