Mona and family live through Tiktok 3 hours at a time.
The BBC’s investigation found social media giant TikTok made up 70 percent of the money donated through the app to hundreds of families in Syrian refugee camps.
Every day Mona Ali Al-Karim and her six daughters go live on Tiktok to ask people to donate money in the virtual world.
The family sat on the floor in their tents for hours in a row. Keep repeating a few English phrases they know over and over: “Please like, please share, please gift.” or “Please like, please share, please gift us.”
Mona’s husband died in an air strike. She uses Tik Tok to raise money for the cost of her daughter Sharifah’s surgery, who is blind.
Gifts such as lions are priced at around $500 or over 19,000 baht.
“Gift” or “gift” that is a virtual gift on the application but has real money value and can withdraw in cash from the application
Live viewers can buy digital gifts such as roses for a few cents. Or a lion or a universe, which is priced around $500 or over 19,000 baht.
The Mona family is one of hundreds of families requesting donations through the platform. earlier this year Similar videos have appeared on the feeds of Tiktok users around the world. Some people think it’s a scam. But some are supportive.
Keith Mason, Influencer on Tik Tok from UK Give a digital gift worth 300 pounds or about 12,500 baht to a family.
Keith Mason said 50,000 people watched the Tiktok live he did with his family in Syria.
“The children looked very happy. and even though both legs and the other arm of the man were torn by the force of the explosion He is one of the most optimistic people you will ever meet or talk to.”
behind the camera
However, something seems to be a weird one. Why do people who suddenly lost their homes in the Civil War have mobile phones, internet and tiktok accounts to go live every day?
Syrian journalist Mohammed Abdullah told us he remembered one of the camps that appeared on the video. It is located in the city of Idlib. which is in northwestern Syria
We asked him to travel there. When he arrived, he found many families asking for donations like the Mona family.
He meets Hamid, the “middle man”, a coordinator who works with 12 families in the camp. He is a mobile supplier. install internet signal Manage your tiktok account And it’s the person who withdraws money from the application for the family in exchange for a commission.
Hamid, the “middle man”, a coordinator who works with 12 families in the camp.
But Hamid said Most of the money from the gift had already been ticked off before it reached his account.
“The lion was the biggest gift, worth $500, but by the time it reached Al-Dana, It’s only $155 left.”
The BBC’s news team tracks over 300 tiktok accounts from Syrian refugee camps. We have found that many families receive gifts worth over $1,000 an hour, but camp families say they only get little from the donations.
Dokhan Hamdan al-Khudder wants to raise money for his daughter’s heart surgery. After asking for a gift for 8 days, he received only 14 USD.
After the live Only $33 left in the demo account in Syria means Tik Tok deducted 69% of the gift money.
After that, we withdrew $33 from a local money changer which took another 10% off, and later “middleman” Hamid took the remaining 35% off.
That means we only get $19 from the $106 donated initially. Many families tell us they’re getting even less.
Marva Fatafta, from digital rights organization Access Now, said that going live for several hours at a time. contrary to Tiktok’s own policy of saying that “Preventing harm and exploitation” children on their own platforms
We want to test how well Tiktok is taking measures to protect children in accordance with its established policies. We hit the report button on the app saying that there were over 30 accounts where children were begging. “No violations” occur on these accounts.
Families in Syria have had to dig up trash to survive.
After the BBC contacted Tik Tok directly. Tiktok has taken action to suspend all these accounts. The company declined to be interviewed but responded through a statement saying:
“We are deeply concerned about the information and allegations made by the BBC. and has acted swiftly and decisively. We do not allow content of this nature on our platform. And we will be more stringent in implementing our global policy on exploitation through begging.”
Tiktok is the fastest growing social media application in the world. It has 3.9 billion downloads worldwide and has grossed over $6.3 billion. from the purchase of services on the application
provide family support
We have reached out to various charities in Syria to ensure that the families we talk to are helping instead of raising money through Tik Tok. A local charity called Takaful Alsham said it would provide the families with basic supplies for three months.
However, there are still hundreds of families that live through Tiktok every day. But Tiktok still receives most of the donations.
