TikTok making money from Syrian children begging on livestreams

TikTok was found to be taking a substantial sum from money donated to the families - but its rules forbid what it calls ‘exploitative begging’

(AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian families in camps have been begging for donations on TikTok with the company taking a huge cut of the money given, despite this being against its rules.

Children livestream on the platform for hours, receiving as much as $1,000 per hour, the BBC reports.

The trend is apparently being encouraged by "TikTok middlemen", who give families phones and equipment to go live. They reportedly work in associated with agencies affiliated with TikTok in China and the Middle East.

The phones are equipped with British SIM cards, as TikTok uses location data to suggest content and people from the UK are apparently more likely to give generously.

The donations are all in the form of virtual gifts, such as digital roses or lions, but can be priced as high as $500.

A test performed by a journalist who went live in Syria and received a donation from a reporter in London, showed that a donation of $106 was split between TikTok and the Syrian account. The journalist in Syria received $33, while TikTok took the rest of the money – approximately 70 per cent of the donation.

TikTok said that “exploitative begging” was not allowed on the platform, and denied it took such as substantial chunk of the donation – but did not specify how much that was.

The remaining $33 then had a transfer fee taken to it and then the ‘middlemen’ would take an additional 35 per cent. This left $19 in the account, finally.

One of the ‘middlemen’, known as Hamid, described how he was supported by "live agencies" in China, who work directly with TikTok.

"They help us if we have any problems with the app. They unlock blocked accounts. We give them the name of the page, the profile picture, and they open the account," he said.

The BBC attempted to report accounts it found begging, but TikTok’s moderators said there were no violation of its policies, the report said.

TikTok’s policies state that users must have 1,000 followers to livestream, must not directly solicit for gifts, and must "prevent the harm, endangerment or exploitation" of minors on the platform.

The social media site only removed the accounts when the BBC contacted them directly for comment, the report claimed.

"We are deeply concerned by the information and allegations brought to us by the BBC, and have taken prompt and rigorous action”, TikTok said in a statement.

"This type of content is not allowed on our platform, and we are further strengthening our global policies around exploitative begging."