YouTube will delete videos that falsely link 5G to the novel coronavirus after reports of people setting phone masts on fire

Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

• YouTube will delete videos that groundlessly link 5G technology to the spread of COVID-19.
• According to The Guardian, the video-sharing site will actively remove videos that breach its policies.
• YouTube could let "borderline" content on 5G-related conspiracy theories stay on the site provided it doesn't mention coronavirus, though it could still be suppressed and removed from search results.
• Conspiracy theorists have connected the emerging mobile technology to the pandemic, with people in the UK reportedly setting mobile phone masts alight.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube will reduce the number of videos on its platform that groundlessly link 5G technology to the spread of COVID-19.

According to The Guardian, the video-sharing site will actively remove videos that breach its policies.

"We also have clear policies that prohibit videos promoting medically unsubstantiated methods to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment, and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us," a YouTube spokesperson told the publication.

The spokesperson added that YouTube could let "borderline" content on 5G-related conspiracy theories stay on the site provided it doesn't mention coronavirus, though it could still be suppressed and removed from search results.

A theory that 5G, which should bring faster mobile connectivity, is somehow connected to the coronavirus has proliferated across social media.

The UK has witnessed several unsavory incidents related to the theories, including attacks on 5G communications masts, including setting them alight.

At least seven masts have been attacked, and telecoms engineers have reportedly been abused in the street. One of the cell towers attacked wasn't even a 5G mast.

British celebrities like the boxer Amir Khan and TV presenter Amanda Holden - as well as Hollywood star Woody Harrelson - have shared content linking 5G to coronavirus on social media, prompting the UK's Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to lambast the theories as "just nonsense - dangerous nonsense, as well."

YouTube did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

NOW WATCH: How social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic looks from a satellite