The culture secretary is to order social media companies to be more aggressive in their response to conspiracy theories linking 5G networks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Oliver Dowden plans to hold virtual meetings with representatives from several tech firms next week to discuss the matter.
It follows a number of 5G masts apparently being set on fire.
The issue will test the companies’ commitments to free speech.
Earlier in the week , blazes were reported at masts in Birmingham, Liverpool and Melling in Merseyside.
A spokesman for Vodafone’s mobile network told the BBC there had been a total of four further incidents over the past 24 hours at both its own sites and those shared with O2, but did not identify the locations.
“We have received several reports of criminal damage to phone masts and abuse of telecoms engineers apparently inspired by crackpot conspiracy theories circulating online,” a spokeswoman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC.
“Those responsible for criminal acts will face the full force of the law.
“We must also see social media companies acting responsibly and taking much swifter action to stop nonsense spreading on their platforms which encourages such acts.”
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DCMS has yet to confirm which tech companies are being summoned.
‘Complete rubbish’
False theories are being spread on smaller platforms such as Nextdoor, Pinterest and the petitions site Change.org as well as larger ones including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.
Scientists have said the idea of a connection between Covid-19 and 5G is “complete rubbish” and biologically impossible.
Several of the platforms have already taken steps to address the problem but have not banned discussion of the subject outright.
Pinterest, for example, limits its search results for coronavirus and related terms to showing pinned information from recognised health organisations but does not have a comparable restriction for 5G.
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