A video is widely shared online to expose a massive child trafficking scandal.
It actually shows illegal immigrants discovered by British customs at the beginning of 2022.
For the conspiracy, these images constitute new proof of massive child trafficking, this global scandal that it has been trying to denounce, in vain, for years. A video is presented on social networks as the discovery of minors in England, then hidden in a truck. “Child Trafficking in the UK 2023! This has to stop”, accuse Internet users on TikTok, for example.
Child trafficking, a QAnon theory…
The sequence is also popular on French accounts, on Telegram or Twitter, thanks to its sharing by Silvano Trotta. “English customs officers stop a truck. Its load? Children. But according to the media, it’s a conspiracy theory, from the far right, QAnon, Trump and all their other nonsense!”, Denounces the latter, who made of conspiracy a real source of funding. On this one-minute extract, we see men in uniform evacuating the trailer of a truck parked in an unidentifiable place. A quote is embedded: “Video of children being found in the back of a truck in London. Beyond the tragic.”
These accusations originate from the American movement QAnon, which is fighting against alleged kidnappings and child trafficking to which the world’s greatest personalities lend themselves for sexual or satanic purposes. However, this false rumor has been going on for years and has had real-life fallout with Pizzagate (in 2016, a Washington pizzeria was attacked by a man who believed in this conspiracy theory). And that these images, brandished today to denounce a network of traffickers, have been taken out of context.
Who manipulates amateur videos
In fact, they go back more than a year and a half. The TikTok account “Ramo Repus”, which defines itself as a “father, entrepreneur, husband”, publishes this video on January 19, 2022. And then obtains little visibility. In legend, he says that “yesterday, (his) brother-in-law filmed this event: children and adults are found in a truck after having made the dangerous journey to the United Kingdom”. In other words, these people getting out of the truck are not presented as minors kidnapped by a criminal network but as illegal immigrants seeking to reach London.
At the time, the British press did not cover such an incident. This type of event is not uncommon in the territory, and especially in British ports, where migrants and refugees manage to evade controls and cross the border in trucks. With sea crossings, these methods are the most used by people wishing to reach England. In 2021, arrivals by truck even increased by 30% over one year, according to the British Home Office. Which is not without risk. The more publicized drama dates back to 2019, when 39 bodies were discovered in a refrigerated truck near London.
It is now difficult to explain why this extract resurfaces today. Nor if the American film Sound of Freedom, which tells the true story of a federal agent against pedophile networks and which meets with great success, is at the origin. On Twitter, the first occurrence comes from an English account, which publishes the sequence on July 11 with a comment: “#ChildTrafficking. Rescued kids”.
However, we could not reach the author of the video for more details. But several elements suggest that the facts related are accurate. First, it cannot show the discovery of child trafficking, since adults also get out of the truck, as at the 45th second. Then, the reported period (early 2022) is consistent with the wearing of the mask, still adopted by several of the protagonists: the children or the man on the forklift. As for the place mentioned (London), the TikTok account that shared the sequence published several videos at the time, all shot in the English capital. Other clues: the English of the video is recognizable by ear, the characteristic uniform of London police officers, or the British brand “Colt”, visible on a truck on the left.
This article is originally published on .tf1info.fr
