October 19, 2022
caption,Mona and her six daughters ask for gifts on TikTok live streams
TikTok is increasing the minimum age for live streaming from 16 to 18 starting next month.
The move comes after a BBC News investigation found hundreds of active accounts streaming directly from refugee camps in Syria. Children beg for cash donations in programs.
Some made up to US$1,000 (about R$5,200) an hour. But when people withdrew the money, TikTok stayed up to 70% of the value.
In the future, only adults will “be able to send virtual gifts or access monetization functions,” according to TikTok.
In the coming weeks, the company says the platform will allow users to stream live for adults only.
However, it’s unclear how TikTok will enforce these age restrictions.
caption,
A BBC research found that TikTok accounts for almost 70% of the value of digital gifts in life
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Google, which owns YouTube, both have a minimum live streaming age of 13 and already allow users to restrict content.
digital donations
For five months, the BBC’s Global Disinformation Unit, BBC Arabic and BBC Eye Investigations tracked over 300 TikTok accounts streamed live directly from northwest Syria.
TikTok’s rules state that the user must not solicit donations directly and must avoid “harm, threats or exploitation” of minors on the platform.
When BBC News used the inapp system to report 30 accounts of children begging for money, TikTok reported that none of the cases violated its guidelines.
After BBC News reached out to TikTok’s management for comment, the company suspended all accounts.
TikTok said that this type of content isn’t allowed on its platform and its commission for “digital gifts” is well under 70%, but has yet to confirm the exact figure.
TikTok is the fastest growing social media app in the world and has been downloaded over 3.9 billion times.
According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, the company has generated more than $6.2 billion in gross revenue from spend on the app since its launch in 2017.