Displaced families in Syrian camps are begging for donations on TikTok while the company takes up to 70% of the proceeds, according to a BBC investigation.
Syrian children are live-streaming on the social media app for hours, pleading for digital gifts with a cash value. The gifts they're asking for are virtual, but they cost the viewers real money and can be withdrawn from the app as cash. Live-stream viewers send the gifts - ranging from digital roses, costing a few cents, to virtual lions costing around $500 - to reward or tip creators for content. While such streams earned up to to $1,000 an hour, people in the camps received only a tiny fraction of that. But in a cruel twist, TikTok responded to the controversy by saying it would take prompt action to eliminate the "exploitative begging".
The company said this type of content was not allowed on its platform, and it said its commission from digital gifts was significantly less than 70%. But it declined to confirm the exact amount.
Earlier this year, global TikTok users saw their feeds fill with live-streams of families in Syrian camps, drawing support from some viewers and concerns about scams from others. In the camps in north-west Syria, the trend was being facilitated by so-called "TikTok middlemen", who provided families with the phones and equipment to go live. The middlemen said they worked with agencies affiliated to TikTok in China and the Middle East, who gave the families access to TikTok accounts. These agencies are part of TikTok's global strategy to recruit live-streamers and encourage users to spend more time on the app. Since the TikTok algorithm suggests content based on the geographic origin of a user's phone number, the middlemen said they prefer to use British SIM cards. They say people from the UK are the most generous donor.
Hamid, one of the TikTok middlemen in the camps, sold his livestock to pay for a mobile phone, SIM card and wi-fi connection to work with families on TikTok. He now broadcasts with 12 different families, for several hours a day. Hamid said he uses TikTok to help families make a living. He pays them most of the profits, minus his running costs. Like the other middlemen, Hamid said 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," Hamid said.
Agencies like these, known as "livestreaming guilds" are based all around the world, and are contracted by TikTok to help content creators produce more appealing live-streams. TikTok pays them a commission according to the duration of live-streams and the value of gifts received. The emphasis on duration means TikTokers, including children in the Syrian camps, go live for hours at a time. Marwa Fatafta, from digital rights organization Access Now, says these live-streams run contrary to TikTok's own policies to "prevent the harm, endangerment or exploitation" of minors on the platform.
In a statement, Twitter said: "We are deeply concerned by the information and allegations brought to us, and have taken prompt and rigorous action." Unfortunately, the action Twitter took was to ban the accounts instead of modifying its reimbursement policies to allow more funding to go to the Syrian families. For many in the camps, there are few options to make money other than begging online. Hundreds of families continue to go live every day, and most of the money donated is still going to TikTok.
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