Displaced families in Syrian refugee camps are increasingly turning to the video portal TikTok to ask people around the world for donations. Corresponding video streams, in which children in particular beg for money, can bring in up to 1,000 pounds (around 1,130 euros) per hour, as an investigation by “BBC News” shows. However, those affected only see a small fraction of this because TikTok allows up to 70 percent of the money collected to go into their own pockets.

“Middlemen” in camps

“For some time now, TikTok users’ news feeds have been flooded with live streams from families trapped in Syrian refugee camps. Some viewers then pledge their support, others are afraid of becoming victims of fraud,” the British news portal describes the situation.

In some of the camps in northwest Syria, a real trend has emerged.

“There are so-called 'TikTok middlemen' who provide families with cell phones and equipment to distribute their live videos online,” it continues.

Source: BBC News

According to these intermediaries, they work locally with various agencies that are closely linked to TikTok in China and the Middle East.

“This allows families to have easy access to TikTok accounts. These agencies are part of the video portal's global strategy to recruit live streamers and get users to spend more time on the app platform," says the background description.

30 accounts observed

To demonstrate this, BBC employees closely monitored a total of 30 TikTok accounts that broadcast their streams live from Syrian refugee camps over a period of five months. As much information as possible was collected using special analysis software. The result: Many users are very happy to donate to families in need.

“Digital gifts worth up to £1,000 are often donated to individual accounts per hour,” the report said.

However, the families who use TikTok to appeal for donations in this way report that they actually only receive a small fraction of the funds collected. The vast majority goes to TikTok. The portal does not want to reveal exactly how much. That's why a BBC reporter in Syria was quickly asked to carry out a practical test and found that in this specific case, 69 percent of the donations made ended up on the video platform itself.

Source:

Press release , BBC
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