TikTok is earning money from live-streamed sex performances by girls aged just 15, according to a BBC investigation. The short video app is still taking about 70 per cent cut from the live stream gifts despite denying the allegations in 2022 that it took such a large commission. The investigation carried out in Kenya showed that women danced and twerked suggestively in the livestreams, used coded sex slang, and advertised sexual services on other platforms.
“I sell myself on TikTok. I dance naked. I do that because that’s where I can earn money to support myself,” a 17-year-old girl, living in a poor Nairobi region admitted.
The girl revealed that she was only 15 years old when her friend introduced her to TikTok Lives. The said friend helped her bypass the age restrictions as individuals over 18 with over 1,000 followers can use the Live feature.
In some cases, TikTok accounts with large followings acted as digital pimps for desperate teenage girls by hosting live-stream sex shows while avoiding content moderators.
TikTok has hired moderators to keep the content clean and given them a reference guide of banned sexual words and actions. However, moderators say the guide is restrictive and does not take int account slang or other provocative gestures.
“You can see by the way they are posing, with the camera on their cleavage and thighs [for example], that they are soliciting sex. They may not say anything, but you can see they are signposting to their [other platform] account, but there’s nothing I can do,” said Jo, a former moderator who worked for Teleperformance – contracted by TikTok to provide content moderation
Jo added that it was not in TikTok’s interest to”clamp down on soliciting of sex” as it generated more revenue when creators received more gifts during the livestream.
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‘TikTok knows’
A lawsuit filed in the US state of Utah last year claimed that TikTok has long known about its video livestreams encouraging sexual conduct that exploited children but turned a blind eye as it remains a highly profitable venture.
Citing internal TikTok employee communications and compliance reports, the lawsuit claimed that TikTok learned of the threats Live posed through a series of internal reviews of the feature. The complaint also said a probe launched in 2021, Project Jupiter, found that criminals used Live to launder money, sell drugs and fund terrorism including by Islamic State.
In the UK, a watchdog on Monday (Mar 3) launched what it has called a “major investigation” into tikTok’s use of children’s personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will inspect the way in which the social media platform uses the data of 13 to 17-year-olds to recommend further content to them.