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BBC investigation: TikTok steals money donated to charity by users

2022-10-13 20:38:38Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
BBC investigation: TikTok steals money donated to charity by users
Families in Syrian camps begging live on TikTok

Displaced families in Syrian camps are begging for donations on TikTok, but the social network takes up to 70 percent of the proceeds they provide as alms.

Kids go live on the social media app for hours, begging for digital gifts with a cash value. The BBC says it saw broadcasters earning up to $1,000 an hour, but found people in the camps were getting only a fraction of that.

TikTok said it would take immediate action against "exploitative begging". The company said this type of content was not allowed on its platform and that its commission from digital gifts was significantly less than 70 percent. But she declined to confirm the exact amount.

Earlier this year, TikTok users saw their feeds flooded with live streams of families in Syrian camps, drawing support from some viewers and concerns about hoaxes from others.

In camps in north-west Syria, the BBC found the trend was being facilitated by so-called "TikTok middlemen", who provided families with phones and devices to stream. The brokers said they worked with TikTok-related agencies in China and the Middle East, which gave 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, brokers said they prefer to use British SIM cards. They say that people from Great Britain give the most generous gifts.

Mona Ali Al-Karim and her six daughters are among the families who broadcast live on TikTok every day, sitting on the floor of their tent for hours and repeating the only English phrases they know: "Please like it, please share it please donate".

Mona's husband was killed in an airstrike and she is using the live streams to raise money for an operation for her daughter Sharifa, who is blind.

The gifts they ask for are virtual, but they cost viewers real money and can be withdrawn from other apps. Followers of the live stream send gifts ranging from digital roses that cost a few cents to virtual lions that cost about $500 to reward, or donate to, the creators.

Për pesë muaj, BBC ndoqi 30 llogari të TikTok që transmetonin drejtpërdrejt nga kampet siriane për personat e zhvendosur dhe ndërtoi një program kompjuterik për të hequr informacionin prej tyre, duke treguar se shikuesit shpesh dhuronin dhurata dixhitale me vlerë deri në 1000 dollarë në orë për çdo llogari.

Megjithatë, familjet në kampe thanë se po merrnin vetëm një pjesë të vogël të këtyre shumave. Me TikTok që refuzoi të thotë se sa merr nga dhuratat, BBC kreu një eksperiment për të gjurmuar se ku shkojnë paratë.

Një reporter në Siri kontaktoi një nga agjencitë e lidhura me TikTok duke thënë se ai jetonte në kampe. Ai mori një llogari dhe nisi transmetimet live, ndërsa stafi i BBC në Londër dërgoi dhurata TikTok me vlerë 106 dollarë nga një llogari tjetër.

Në fund të transmetimit të drejtpërdrejtë, gjendja e llogarisë e të infiltruarit nga BBC ishte 33 dollarë. TikTok kishte marrë 69 për qind të vlerës së dhuratave.

Influencuesi i TikTok dhe ish-lojtari profesionist i regbisë Keith Mason dhuroi 330 dollarë gjatë transmetimit të drejtpërdrejtë të një familjeje dhe inkurajoi afro një milion ndjekësit e tij të bëjnë të njëjtën gjë. Kur iu tha nga BBC se shumica e këtyre fondeve ishin marrë nga kompania e mediave sociale, ai tha se ishte "qesharake" dhe "e padrejtë" për familjet në Siri.

33 dollarët e mbetur nga dhurata prej 106 dollarësh e BBC-së u reduktuan me 10 për qind të tjera kur u tërhoqën nga dyqani lokal i transfertave të parave. Ndërmjetësit e TikTok do të merrnin 35 për qind të pjesës së mbetur, duke lënë një familje me vetëm 19 dollarë.

Hamid, one of the TikTok brokers in the camps, told the BBC he had sold his cattle to pay for a mobile phone, SIM card and Wi-Fi connection to work with families on TikTok. Now he 'manages' 12 different families, several hours a day.

Hamid said he uses TikTok to help families in the camp make ends meet. He states that he pays them most of the profits, minus his operating costs.


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