Apr 07, 2025 12:00:00

TikTok has a 'no begging' policy, but its algorithms actively promote begging streams

TikTok has a feature called

TikTok LIVE that allows live streaming from the app. With TikTok LIVE, viewers can financially support streamers by purchasing and sending 'virtual gifts.' However, this is a feature solely for supporting creators, and TikTok's policies strictly prohibit any streaming that is deemed 'begging,' especially streaming that exploits poor children. However, an Observer investigation has pointed out that 'begging' is widespread on TikTok, and that TikTok is making profits, including up to 70% commission, by promoting streams that violate its policies.

'Profiting from misery': how TikTok makes money from child begging livestreams | TikTok | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/06/profiting-from-misery-how-tiktok-makes-money-from-child-begging-livestreams

According to an analysis of TikTok LIVE conducted from January to April 2025, evidence of begging and related behavior was found in countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, and Kenya. Many of the live streams show families begging at home, and for example, one account showed children begging for virtual gifts saying, 'We are very poor. Please support us,' and when the gifts were given, they applauded and thanked each other for several hours. Below is a begging stream recorded by The Guardian, in which children lined up in silence only clap in unison immediately after receiving the virtual gift.

In addition to direct begging, the video also shows him hitting himself, covering himself in mud, and lying on a tiled floor with two young girls, creating scenes that suggest danger and anxiety.

TikTok suspended the begging accounts within two hours of being alerted by the Observer, but the Observer noted that it had not taken any action against them when they had been previously reported through the app's reporting tool.

Nobita Angraeni, a

social inclusion expert at Indonesia-based charity CARE International, said, 'TikTok LIVE is usually used by many creators to showcase their talents and connect with people. However, it is increasingly being abused by people who see it as a 'shortcut to making money, ' and there has been a rapid increase in 'harmful' videos showing begging and related activities. This is a whole new form of exploitation.' According to Angraeni, begging broadcasts are often not individual but organized 'begging networks' targeting poor families, and there is a risk that these organizations will manage their income and abuse multiple families.

Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights , appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate and report on the impact of poverty on human rights, accused TikTok and intermediaries of 'profiting from people's misery. Profiting from people's suffering is nothing less than 'digital plunder.' We call on TikTok to act immediately, enforce its policies on exploitative begging, and seriously question the commissions it is taking from some of the world's most vulnerable people,' De Schutter said.

TikTok has a policy prohibiting begging, including 'exploitation of children or vulnerable people' during live broadcasts, and announced that it had taken 'decisive action,' including deleting accounts, in response to Observer's warning. A spokesperson for ByteDance, which operates TikTok, said, 'Live content in which children beg for gifts is not allowed on TikTok,' and revealed its tough stance, saying, 'Through proactive detection by our specialized teams and technology, we stop more than 4 million live broadcasts each month to keep our platform safe.'

Maya Lahav, a researcher at the Oxford University Center for Criminology who has a history of advising technology companies on detecting exploitative online begging, points out that moderating live streams is very difficult and requires a lot of resources. According to Lahav, in addition to streams that are clearly begging, there are also influencers who aim to make a profit by featuring their children in live streams, but it is difficult to decide whether to remove them as exploitative. 'The key is when it becomes exploitative. That's the balance that platforms need to strike. There are serious concerns about human rights violations, especially when third parties are involved or the characters are too young or sick to consent,' Lahav said.