Screaming In Shipping Containers / Open the Containers Movement

Submission 367

Part of a series on TikTok. [View Related Entries]

About

Screaming In Shipping Containers and the Open the Containers Movement refers to an online movement to open up shipping containers at the Port of Vancouver, Canada from which screaming has allegedly been heard, suggesting that there are people in the shipping containers who are human trafficking victims. The conspiracy theory inspired movement started on TikTok in November 2024 after a video went viral of a woman in Crab Park, Vancouver yelling at passersby that she hears people screaming in containers at the Port of Vancouver every night and that the city is trying to cover it up. The clip inspired others to post videos urging for the containers to be opened, sparking the "open the containers" movement. People also uploaded videos in which it appears as if screaming is coming from containers, although the integrity of many of the videos related to the movement has been questioned. While human trafficking has been known to occur via shipping containers, the movement is likely a hoax, with no evidence suggesting that there is an epidemic of human trafficking in shipping containers in Vancouver or anywhere else, or that the city of Vancouver is trying to cover it up.

History

On November 10th, 2024, TikToker^[1] @mental0ne posted a video of a woman in Crab Park, Vancouver yelling at passersby, claiming that she hears people screaming from shipping containers in Port of Vancouver every night, claiming that the city is trying to cover it up. The video, captioned, "A resident of crab park claims there are people in containers being trafficked at the Port of Vancouver," garnered over 3.4 million views in a week. The video uses the hashtags "#opentheshippingcontainers" and "#openthecontainers."

As the video went viral, TikTokers began posting further alleged evidence of screaming in shipping containers not just in Vancouver, but around the world. Many of these videos are believed to be fake and misleading.

For example, on November 13th, TikToker^[2] @pitcher_me_scrollin posted a video captioned, "Shipping container update," that begins with a clip of retired Police Superintendent Trevor Roe speaking about an actual incident of human trafficking in shipping containers from back in 2014,^[3] with the video seeming to suggest that this clip is related to the 2024 allegations of screaming in shipping containers, garnering over 160,000 views in six days.

On November 15th, TikToker^[4] @happy_lemon18 posted a video of herself filming silent shipping containers at Port of Vancouver at night, reporting that they are "very quiet tonight," garnering over 1.4 million views in four days. On the same day, TikToker^[5] @mannybal2021 posted a video explaining the movement, garnering over 800,000 views in the same span of time.

On November 17th, 2024, TikToker^[6] @notyosugaadaddy posted a video from an unknown shipping container port recording alleged screaming from a shipping container, garnering over 1.5 million views in two days. Later that day he posted another video to TikTok^[7] allegedly capturing screaming from a container, garnering over 5.5 million views in the same span of time.

Also on November 17th, X^[8] user @Lisahudsonchow7 shared the second video, garnering over 3,300 likes and 2,200 reposts in two days. The veracity of the videos is unconfirmed, with some commenters on both the original TikTok and X repost suggesting the screams are the sound of the crane and others suggesting the screams have been added to the video.

Online Presence

The movement began to spread in November 2024 on TikTok and X, also inspiring skepticism. On November 17th, 2024, the website Stay Safe Vancouver^[9] notably posted an article about the movement.

On November 17th and 18th, numerous X users questioned the veracity of a reposted video allegedly showing screaming coming from a shipping container, suggesting the scream was either added in post-production or that it's actually the sound of machinery. Notably, some people claimed to believe the video.