Thailand Child Organ Trafficking: Dead Bodies Found In Container Vehicle

These children were among the victims of a deadly gas attack in Damascus, Syria in 2013. One of the photos about the attack has been used in a fake Facebook news which surfaced last November. (Image screenshot from YouTube/CNN)

With the proliferation of fake news in social media having been put on the spotlight in the US these days, rumormongers seem to have remained unaffected by the issue. In fact, they seem to keep churning out fake stories to this day. Just last month, a social media user posted a news report on Facebook about Thailand child organ trafficking.

The post claimed that bodies of dead children from different parts of the globe have been found in a container vehicle in Thailand. The children were allegedly victims of Thailand child organ trafficking. The post further reported that the children were kidnapped and that their organs have been harvested and missing. It even shared a gruesome photo of the alleged dead children. The post also urged readers to share the news to their contacts.

However, upon further investigation of the Facebook post, it has been found out that the news report was false. According to Snopes, a well-known and legitimate website that debunks rumors and conspiracy theories, the Thailand child organ trafficking report is just one of the many attempts of some unscrupulous people to drive traffic to their Facebook page and spread these fake messages on social media. These types of posts are aimed to increase social media engagement in their Facebook page.

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However, the photo that was attached in the Facebook post was real. Snopes stated that the photo was taken from a previous report on a chemical weapons attack that happened in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, Syria in 2013. An old 2013 article from the New York Post reported about the chemical weapons attack in Syria that happened in August of that year. The attack was said to have been done by the Syrian government forces that were fighting the rebels in the country. About 1,300 civilians reportedly died in the gas attack including dozens of children. The New York Post report included photos of dead children among the victims.

One of the publication’s photos of the dead children was obviously lifted by the social media user who posted the fake news on Facebook and reused it for his “news report” about Thailand child organ trafficking. Snopes concluded that the photo of dead Syrian children doesn’t have any connection to Thailand, organ harvesting, or child trafficking.