Since June 7, 2023, Georgian and Russian-language Facebook accounts have been disseminating the information that American actor and director Mel Gibson is making a 4-part docu-series about the global market for child sex trafficking involving many countries, including Ukraine. Both posts are accompanied by a photo of Mel Gibson with an English-language caption that further claims that child trafficking is a $34 billion global market.
The claim that Mel Gibson is making a docu-series about child trafficking is false. The spokesperson of the actor has denied the widespread accusations.
The information about Mel Gibson’s alleged documentary series was published on June 7, 2023, by the Twitter account Leading Report. As of June 9, the tweet, which refers to the American actor, has 11.3 million views. Notably, the mentioned tweet already features a Twitter warning that the information voiced in it is not accompanied by evidence.
The information about Mel Gibson’s alleged documentary series was published on June 7, 2023, by the Twitter account Leading Report. As of June 9, the tweet, which refers to the American actor, has 11.3 million views. Notably, the mentioned tweet already features a Twitter warning that the information voiced in it is not accompanied by evidence.
However, Leading Report’s tweet is not the primary source of the claim. Reports about the alleged documentary series were released in January 2023 by Tim Ballard, the founder of the non-profit organization “Operation Underground Railroad” (O.U.R.).
On January 12, 2023, speaking at Eagle Florum, Tim Ballard spoke about the operation called “The Hidden War”, within the framework of which the organization saved hundreds of children in 6 countries for four months. According to Ballard, one of the countries where the operation took place was Ukraine, where the adoption process of children has been disrupted since the Russian invasion, and the threat of trafficking has increased.
Ballard claims that his organization was going to take 12 children out of Ukraine, but Mel Gibson contacted him and asked him to take the orphaned children under his protection out of the country. In return, according to the head of O.U.R., he asked Gibson to help film the situation in Ukraine so that more people would have information about the situation in the country. According to Ballard, Gibson accepted his offer, but instead of the intended documentary, a four-part documentary series was made, which is almost complete.
According to Billard, the executive producer of the documentary series is Tony Robbins. Robbins is an American author, coach and philanthropist who also funded the activities of O.U.R. Information about Robbins’ involvement in the filming of the series on trafficking is not found in open sources.
The disseminated information was verified by Newsweek. According to the publication, Mel Gibson’s representative confirmed to them that the claims about the documentary series are false.
The website of Operation Underground Railroad states that its priority is to rescue children from trafficking and support the recovery process of the survivors. Despite the fact that O.U.R.’s activities have a lot of support in the United States of America and there are a number of famous people among its sponsors, the organization’s activities have repeatedly become the object of criticism, in particular, the professionalism of the operations conducted by the organization and the reliability of the sources became the object of criticism (1, 2).
Since 2020, there has been an investigation into the activities of the organization in the state of Utah, although it was closed in 2023, and no charges were filed against the organization.
Notably, both the Facebook posts and the Leading Report’s tweet create the impression that Ukraine as a state is involved in the child trafficking business. According to the US State Department’s 2022 report, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has indeed created new challenges for trafficking. Internally displaced persons, including children, face a relatively high risk of trafficking. Children who were transferred by the Russian side to Russian territory are also at high risk of trafficking.
This is not the first case when Mel Gibson has been falsely credited with directing a film. In late 2022 and early 2023, it was reported that Gibson was speaking out against the “New World Order” and was going to make a film about them to expose the Rothschild family. Claims about the film turned out to be fake.
About the source:
The Facebook account “Maia Tvaltvadze” regularly publishes posts with anti-Western, anti-vax content. “Myth Detector” has debunked the false information amplified by the user many times in the past.
The Russian-language account “Orly Zipori” has been spreading false information with anti-vax content since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The user also publishes anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western posts and conspiracy theories.
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