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One holy tree, 5G and some fake news - 7th June 2023

Social media had people in Sri Lanka concerned about the Sri Maha Bodhi tree. The country's Buddhist community believes it's the holiest tree. A local website claimed that the tree's leaves were turning black due to 5G radiation. This could lead to the tree losing all its leaves and dying.

The story quickly spread on social media, with memes on Facebook and WhatsApp and a TV presenter also discussed the theories on YouTube. Pallegama Hemarathana's the head monk where the tree's located. He demanded help from the president in response to the growing fears.

Pallegama Hemarathana: "I told the president that there is a problem like this. It would be prudent to get the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and botanists from the Peradeniya University to study this and inform the public because they are very concerned."

The president swiftly formed a team of experts, which included telecommunications engineers and botanists, to investigate the matter. The investigation concluded that the tree wasn't affected by 5G radiation. More importantly, there were no 5G transmitters in the area.

However, the expert panel made some recommendations. They advise that mobile phone use be prohibited near the tree. This rule already existed, but was often broken. Strict airport style security already exists around the tree, which is locally called 'Bo'. Due to the impact of false news, the head monk stressed the need for tighter security around the 2,300 year old tree.

Pallegama Hemarathana: "We never take any decision that will cause harm to the Bodhi tree. Our duty is to protect it."