TikTok takes 70% of profits from videos of families begging in Syria refugee camps: Report

TikTok has again made the headlines. The video platform is reported to have profited by up to 70% from live-streamed videos of refugees begging online for donations.

As per a BBC report, displaced individuals in Syria camps have been using the video sharing platform to ask for donations, which has resulted in an increase of at least 70 per cent in streams.

Children are live-streaming on TikTok for hours asking for money and digital gifts with few followers. Viewers have been seeing similar posts and videos in their feeds for months now.

TikTok said that it will take strong and appropriate action against the exploitative begging.

Now if we think of how are people actually accessing the media platform, it's because of 'Tiktok middlemen.' The middlemen provide people in camps with phones and user accounts to access the app. It was claimed that the main purpose of doing this was to encourage people to spend more time streaming.

Mostly UK-based SIMs were used as they were considered to be the most kind gifters. Though these gifts are virtual it actually costs real money to the sender, as they can be withdrawn as cash.

The BBC investigative report claimed that the streams earned up to nearly $1,000 per hour, but the families in camps received a small amount. When inquired, the company said that first this type of content is not allowed to be streamed and second, its commission on digital gifts is less than 70 per cent. However, it did not reveal the exact amount. BBC carried out an experiment where it donated $106, which resulted that only $33 in the Syrian account and 69 per cent was taken by TikTok.

The reduction doesn't end here, the middlemen take 35 per cent of the remaining and then a further reduction of 10 per cent is made when the money was withdrawn from a local shop which left the family with only $19.

In a conversation with BBC, former rugby player Keith Mason donated $330 during his live stream, but later when he came to know about the reduction, he regarded that the company is being unfair to the families.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE