Latest news with #TikTokLives
TimesLIVE
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Activist groups demand that Moja Love cancels 'Isencane Lengane'
Pressure is mounting on Moja Love to can its show Isencane Lengane. Isencane Lengane airs on Sundays. The show follows the lives of a young married couple, Siyacela Dlamuka and Thando Msomi, who married when they were teenagers. A recent episode sent shockwaves through social media, with viewers and activist groups expressing their disaffection and demanding the show's cancellation over its depiction of abuse. Digital creator P nems Collection wrote: " Isencane Lengane is getting out of hand! We're not watching love any more — we're watching a young girl's potential being wasted while everyone claps. Thando wanted to go to school this year, but instead of helping her they gave us a new squad of 'friends of the show'. For what? Views? She's still sitting in those red walls. Still stuck. Instead of TikTok Lives, Thando should be in a lecture room! "This show had a chance to transform her life — but what do they do? Entertain us with toxicity. And those five 'mothers'? They're not mentors — they're the reason she's still locked in that mess. "We said NO to this marriage from the start. Now we're writing to [Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA] because this is no longer a storyline — it's a red flag. Thando deserves better. Thando deserves education. Not this cycle of pain.#JusticeForThando #IsencaneLengane #DoBetterMojaLove.'
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
How TikTok dey make profit from sexual livestreams wey involve children
TikTok dey profit from sexual livestreams performed by teenagers wey dey as young as 15, BBC don find out. We speak wit three women for Kenya wey say dem begin dis activity as teenagers. Dem tell us say dem dey use TikTok to openly advertise and negotiate payment for more content wey dem go send thru oda messaging platforms. TikTok say dem ban dis kain tins but di company know say e dey happen, moderators bin tell di BBC. TikTok dey take a cut of about 70% from all livestream transactions, we bin don find out. TikTok tell BBC say dem get "zero tolerance for exploitation". Livestreams from Kenya dey popular for TikTok - each night ova one week, we find plenty of dem wia women performers dey dance suggestively, and hundreds of pipo around di world dey watch. Some dey use coded sexual slang to advertise sexual services. Warning: Dis tori get details wey dey sexual in nature Di time na two o'clock in di morning for Nairobi, and di TikTok Lives dey in full flow. Music blasts, and users dey chat over each oda, as one woman turn her camera on to twerk or pose provocatively. Emoji "gifts" just full di screen. "Inbox me for kinembe guys. Tap, tap," di performers dey talk on repeat. "Tap, tap," na phrase wey TikTok users dey always use to ask dia viewers to "like" a livestream. "Kinembe" na di Swahili word for "clitoris". Wen di performer say "Inbox me", dat na invitation for di viewer to send a private message for TikTok to request more videos - such as to watch di performer dey masturbate, strip or perform sexual activities wit oda women. Di emoji gifts dey act as payment for di TikTok livestreams and - bicos TikTok dey remove any obvious sexual acts and nudity - also di oda more content dem dey send later for oda platforms. Di gifts fit dey converted to cash. "E no dey in TikTok interest to clamp down on soliciting of sex - di more pipo give gifts on a livestream…[di] more revenue for TikTok," one Kenyan former moderator wey we go just call Jo tell BBC. TikTok say e employ more dan 40,000 moderators globally. We discover say TikTok still dey collect about 70% cut from livestream gifts. Di company bin deny say e dey take such a large commission afta we bin establish am for inside one investigation in 2022. E don tey wey TikTok bin dey aware of child exploitation for dia livestreams bicos dem bin don run dia own internal investigation in 2022 - but dem ignore di issue bicos dem dey make "significant profit" from dem, according to di claims for one lawsuit wey di US state of Utah bin file last year. TikTok respond say di lawsuit - wey still dey go on - bin ignore di "proactive measures" wey dem bin don take to improve safety. Kenya na hotspot for dis abuse, according to di charity ChildFund Kenya, and di problem dey get worse sake of say di kontri get plenty young demographic and internet usage dey widespread. Africa as a whole also get poor online moderation compared to Western countries, di charity add. Jo, wey bin work for Teleperformance - wey TikTok bin contract to provide content moderation - say moderators get reference guide of sexual words or actions wey TikTok ban. But dis guide no dey take into account slangs or oda provocative gestures. "You dey see by di way dem dey pose, wit di camera for dia cleavage and thighs [for example], say dem dey solicit for sex. Dem fit no tok anything, but you dey see say dem dey signpost to dia [oda platform] accounts, but I no go fit do anything." Anoda content moderator for Teleperformance, who we go call Kelvin, say moderation also dey limited as TikTok don dey rely more on artificial intelligence (AI), wey no dey sensitive enough to pick up on local sexual slang. Jo and Kelvin dey among seven current and former content moderators wey dey work on TikTok content wey tell us dia concerns. Jo say about 80% of livestreams wey content moderators dey flag contain sexual, or advertising sexual services, and TikTok dey aware of di scale of di issue. ChildFund Kenya and oda charities tell BBC say children wey dey as young as nine dey take part for diz activities. We don speak to teenage girls and young women wey say dem dey spend up to six or seven hours a night on di activity and dem dey make on average £30 a day - enough to pay for dia food and transport for one week. "I dey sell myself on top TikTok. I dey dance naked. I dey do am bicos dat na wia I fit get money to support myself," one 17-year-old wey we go call Esther tok. She dey live for one poor neighbourhood for Nairobi, wia 3,000 residents dey share toilet facilities. She say di money dey help her buy food for her child, and support her mother who bin don dey struggle to pay dia rent since Esther papa die. She say she dey 15 years old wen her friend bin introduce her to TikTok Lives, na di friend help her to bypass di age restrictions - only pipo wey don pass 18 fit use TikTok Live, and users gatz get at least 1,000 followers to go live. So TikTok users wey get big following fit act as digital pimps - hosting di livestreams selling sexual content. Some of them get back-up accounts, showing say TikTok fit don ban or suspend dem bifor. Dem know how to avoid detection by TikTok content moderators, while generating di right amount of sexual teasing to get di interest of dia customers. "Wen you dey dance, you go move away from di camera, odawise dem go block you," one pimp shout for one woman wey dey twerk on screen. As di pimps host dem, di women go give di pimps a cut from di money wey dem earn. Di relationship fit turn exploitative, Esther tok. She say her digital pimp know say she dey under 18, and "e like to dey use young girls". He dey put pressure on her to earn more - which mean say she gatz to dey do livestream more frequently - and he dey more cut of her money dan she expect, she tok. "So if dem send emoji wey be 35,000ksh, he go take 20,000ksh and give you only 15,000ksh." Working for am be like pesin wey dey for "handcuffs" she tok. "Na you dey suffer pass bicos e dey get di bigger share but na you im dey use." "Sophie", no be her real name, who say she also dey 15 wen she bin start to dey livestream on top TikTok, say she dey get requests from men for Europe for services on oda platforms, including from one German user wey go demand for her to dey caress her breasts and genitals for money. Now 18, she dey regret her online sex work. Some of the videos she bin send to users for oda platforms dem later upload dem to social media witout her consent, she tok. Her neighbours bin find out, and warned oda young pipo make dem no associate wit her, she tell BBC. "Dem call me lost sheep, and dem tell young pipo say I go mislead them. I dey lonely most of di time." Some of di girls and women we bin speak to tok say dem also pay dem money to meet TikTok users for sex in person, or say dia pimp bin don pressure dem to have sex wit dem. TikTok dey try to establish diasef for African markets, but dem no dey employ enough staff to effectively monitor dia content, di content moderators for Kenya tok. Kenya goment don shown signs of acknowledging di issue - for 2023, President William Ruto bin hold meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to ask for beta content moderation for di platform. Di goment say di company bin agree to tighter regulation, wit a TikTok office in Kenya to help co-ordinate operations. But di moderators we speak to say nothing don happen more dan 18 months later. Teleperformance reply dat dia moderators "dey work diligently to tag and flag user-generated content based on community standards and client guidelines" and day dia systems no dey set up to allow Teleperformance to remove offending material or report it to law enforcement authorities. One spokesperson for TikTok tell BBC say: "TikTok get zero tolerance for exploitation. We dey enforce strict safety policies, including robust Live content rules, moderation in 70 languages, including Swahili, and we dey partner wit local experts and creators, including our Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council to continually strengthen our approach."
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TikTok profiting from sexual livestreams involving children, BBC told
TikTok is profiting from sexual livestreams performed by teens as young as 15, the BBC has been told. We spoke to three women in Kenya who said they began this activity as teenagers. They told us they used TikTok to openly advertise and negotiate payment for more explicit content that would be sent via other messaging platforms. TikTok bans solicitation but the company knows it takes place, moderators have told the BBC. TikTok takes a cut of about 70% from all livestream transactions, we have previously found. TikTok told the BBC it has "zero tolerance for exploitation". Livestreams from Kenya are popular on TikTok - each night over the course of a week, we found up to a dozen in which women performers danced suggestively, watched by hundreds of people around the world. Warning: Contains details of a sexual nature It's two o'clock in the morning in Nairobi, and the TikTok Lives are in full flow. Music blasts, and users chat over each other, as a woman turns her camera on to twerk or pose provocatively. Emoji "gifts" then fill the screen. "Inbox me for kinembe guys. Tap, tap," the performers say on repeat. "Tap, tap," is a phrase commonly used on TikTok, calling for viewers to "like" a livestream. "Kinembe" is Swahili for "clitoris". "Inbox me" instructs the viewer to send a private message over TikTok with a more explicit bespoke request - such as to watch the performer masturbating, stripping or performing sexual activities with other women. Livestreams from Kenya are popular on TikTok - each night over the course of a week, we found up to a dozen in which women performers danced suggestively, watched by hundreds of people around the world. Some used coded sexual slang to advertise sexual services. The emoji gifts act as payment for the TikTok livestreams and - because TikTok removes any obvious sexual acts and nudity - also the more explicit content sent later on other platforms. The gifts can be converted into cash. "It's not in TikTok's interest to clamp down on soliciting of sex - the more people give gifts on a livestream… [the] more revenue for TikTok," says a Kenyan former moderator we are calling Jo - one of more than 40,000 moderators TikTok says it employs globally. Listen to TikTok and the digital pimps: Eye Investigates - from BBC World Service We discovered that TikTok is still taking about a 70% cut from livestream gifts. The company denied it took such a large commission after we established the same cut in a 2022 investigation. TikTok has long been aware of child exploitation in its livestreams - having run its own internal investigation in 2022 - but ignored the issue because it "profited significantly" from them, according to the claims of a lawsuit brought by the US state of Utah last year. TikTok responded that the lawsuit - which is ongoing - ignored the "proactive measures" it had made to improve safety. Kenya is a hotspot for this abuse, says the charity ChildFund Kenya, compounded by a young demographic and widespread internet usage. The African continent as a whole also has poor online moderation compared to Western countries, the charity added. Jo, who worked for Teleperformance - contracted by TikTok to provide content moderation - says moderators are given a reference guide of banned sexual words or actions. But this guide is restrictive, says Jo, and does not take into 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." Another content moderator for Teleperformance, who we are calling Kelvin, says moderation is also limited by TikTok's increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI), which he says is not sensitive enough to pick up on local sexual slang. Jo and Kelvin are among seven current and former content moderators working on TikTok content who told us their concerns. Jo says about 80% of livestreams flagged in content moderators' feeds were sexual, or advertising sexual services, and TikTok is aware of the scale of the issue. ChildFund Kenya and other charities have told the BBC that children as young as nine are taking part in these activities. We have spoken to teenage girls and young women who say they are spending up to six or seven hours a night on the activity and making on average £30 a day - enough to pay for a week's food and transport. "I sell myself on TikTok. I dance naked. I do that because that's where I can earn money to support myself," says a 17-year-old we are calling Esther. She lives in a poor Nairobi neighbourhood, where 3,000 residents share toilet facilities. She says the money helps her buy food for her child, and support her mother who has been struggling to pay the rent since Esther's father died. She says she was 15 years old when she was introduced to TikTok Lives by a friend, who helped her bypass the age restrictions - only over-18s can use a Live. Users also need at least 1,000 followers to go live. So TikTok users with a big following can act as digital pimps - hosting the livestreams selling sexual content. Some of them have back-up accounts, indicating they have been banned or suspended by TikTok in the past. They appear to know how to evade detection by TikTok's content moderators, while generating the right amount of sexual teasing to pique customers' interest. "When you're dancing, move away from the camera, otherwise you'll get blocked," shouts a pimp to a woman twerking on screen. In return for being hosted, the women give pimps a cut of their earnings. The relationship can quickly turn exploitative, says Esther. She says her digital pimp knew she was under 18, and "he likes using young girls". He put pressure on her to earn more - meaning she needed to livestream more frequently - and took a larger cut of her earnings than she expected, she says. "So if an emoji is sent which is 35,000ksh (£213), he takes 20,000ksh (£121) and you only get 15,000ksh (£91)." Working for him was like being in "handcuffs" she says. "You are the one hurting because he gets the biggest share and yet it is you who has been used." "Sophie", not her real name, who says she was also 15 when she started livestreaming on TikTok, says she got requests from men in Europe for services on third-party platforms, including from one a German user who would demand that she caress her breasts and genitals for money. Now 18, she regrets her online sex work. Some of the videos she sent to users via other platforms were then uploaded to social media without her consent, she says. Her neighbours found out, and warned other young people not to associate with her, she told the BBC. "They brand me as a lost sheep, and young people are told that I'll mislead them. I am lonely most of the time." Some of the girls and women we spoke to said they had also been paid to meet TikTok users for sex in person, or had been pressured into having sex with their pimps. TikTok is keen to establish itself in African markets, but is not employing enough staff to effectively monitor content, the content moderators in Kenya told us. Kenya's government has shown signs of acknowledging the issue - in 2023, President William Ruto held a meeting with TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew to call for better content moderation on the platform. The government said the company had agreed to tighter regulation, with a TikTok office in Kenya to help co-ordinate operations. But the moderators we spoke to said, more than 18 months later, neither had happened. Teleperformance replied that its moderators "work diligently to tag and flag user-generated content based on community standards and client guidelines" and that its clients' systems are not set up to allow Teleperformance to remove offending material or report it to law enforcement authorities. A spokesperson for TikTok told the BBC: "TikTok has zero tolerance for exploitation. We enforce strict safety policies, including robust Live content rules, moderation in 70 languages, including Swahili, and we partner with local experts and creators, including our Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council to continually strengthen our approach."
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
TikTok profiting from sexual livestreams involving children, BBC told
TikTok is profiting from sexual livestreams performed by teens as young as 15, the BBC has been spoke to three women in Kenya who said they began this activity as teenagers. They told us they used TikTok to openly advertise and negotiate payment for more explicit content that would be sent via other messaging bans solicitation but the company knows it takes place, moderators have told the BBC. TikTok takes a cut of about 70% from all livestream transactions, we have previously told the BBC it has "zero tolerance for exploitation".Livestreams from Kenya are popular on TikTok - each night over the course of a week, we found up to a dozen in which women performers danced suggestively, watched by hundreds of people around the Contains details of a sexual nature It's two o'clock in the morning in Nairobi, and the TikTok Lives are in full blasts, and users chat over each other, as a woman turns her camera on to twerk or pose provocatively. Emoji "gifts" then fill the screen."Inbox me for kinembe guys. Tap, tap," the performers say on repeat. "Tap, tap," is a phrase commonly used on TikTok, calling for viewers to "like" a livestream."Kinembe" is Swahili for "clitoris". "Inbox me" instructs the viewer to send a private message over TikTok with a more explicit bespoke request - such as to watch the performer masturbating, stripping or performing sexual activities with other from Kenya are popular on TikTok - each night over the course of a week, we found up to a dozen in which women performers danced suggestively, watched by hundreds of people around the world. Some used coded sexual slang to advertise sexual emoji gifts act as payment for the TikTok livestreams and - because TikTok removes any obvious sexual acts and nudity - also the more explicit content sent later on other platforms. The gifts can be converted into cash."It's not in TikTok's interest to clamp down on soliciting of sex - the more people give gifts on a livestream… [the] more revenue for TikTok," says a Kenyan former moderator we are calling Jo - one of more than 40,000 moderators TikTok says it employs globally. Listen to TikTok and the digital pimps: Eye Investigates - from BBC World Service We discovered that TikTok is still taking about a 70% cut from livestream gifts. The company denied it took such a large commission after we established the same cut in a 2022 has long been aware of child exploitation in its livestreams - having run its own internal investigation in 2022 - but ignored the issue because it "profited significantly" from them, according to the claims of a lawsuit brought by the US state of Utah last responded that the lawsuit - which is ongoing - ignored the "proactive measures" it had made to improve is a hotspot for this abuse, says the charity ChildFund Kenya, compounded by a young demographic and widespread internet usage. The African continent as a whole also has poor online moderation compared to Western countries, the charity added. Jo, who worked for Teleperformance - contracted by TikTok to provide content moderation - says moderators are given a reference guide of banned sexual words or actions. But this guide is restrictive, says Jo, and does not take into 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."Another content moderator for Teleperformance, who we are calling Kelvin, says moderation is also limited by TikTok's increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI), which he says is not sensitive enough to pick up on local sexual and Kelvin are among seven current and former content moderators working on TikTok content who told us their concerns. Jo says about 80% of livestreams flagged in content moderators' feeds were sexual, or advertising sexual services, and TikTok is aware of the scale of the issue. ChildFund Kenya and other charities have told the BBC that children as young as nine are taking part in these have spoken to teenage girls and young women who say they are spending up to six or seven hours a night on the activity and making on average £30 a day - enough to pay for a week's food and transport."I sell myself on TikTok. I dance naked. I do that because that's where I can earn money to support myself," says a 17-year-old we are calling Esther. She lives in a poor Nairobi neighbourhood, where 3,000 residents share toilet facilities. She says the money helps her buy food for her child, and support her mother who has been struggling to pay the rent since Esther's father says she was 15 years old when she was introduced to TikTok Lives by a friend, who helped her bypass the age restrictions - only over-18s can use a Live. Users also need at least 1,000 followers to go live. So TikTok users with a big following can act as digital pimps - hosting the livestreams selling sexual content. Some of them have back-up accounts, indicating they have been banned or suspended by TikTok in the appear to know how to evade detection by TikTok's content moderators, while generating the right amount of sexual teasing to pique customers' interest."When you're dancing, move away from the camera, otherwise you'll get blocked," shouts a pimp to a woman twerking on return for being hosted, the women give pimps a cut of their relationship can quickly turn exploitative, says Esther. She says her digital pimp knew she was under 18, and "he likes using young girls".He put pressure on her to earn more - meaning she needed to livestream more frequently - and took a larger cut of her earnings than she expected, she says."So if an emoji is sent which is 35,000ksh (£213), he takes 20,000ksh (£121) and you only get 15,000ksh (£91)."Working for him was like being in "handcuffs" she says. "You are the one hurting because he gets the biggest share and yet it is you who has been used.""Sophie", not her real name, who says she was also 15 when she started livestreaming on TikTok, says she got requests from men in Europe for services on third-party platforms, including from one a German user who would demand that she caress her breasts and genitals for 18, she regrets her online sex work. Some of the videos she sent to users via other platforms were then uploaded to social media without her consent, she neighbours found out, and warned other young people not to associate with her, she told the BBC."They brand me as a lost sheep, and young people are told that I'll mislead them. I am lonely most of the time."Some of the girls and women we spoke to said they had also been paid to meet TikTok users for sex in person, or had been pressured into having sex with their pimps. TikTok is keen to establish itself in African markets, but is not employing enough staff to effectively monitor content, the content moderators in Kenya told government has shown signs of acknowledging the issue - in 2023, President William Ruto held a meeting with TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew to call for better content moderation on the platform. The government said the company had agreed to tighter regulation, with a TikTok office in Kenya to help co-ordinate the moderators we spoke to said, more than 18 months later, neither had replied that its moderators "work diligently to tag and flag user-generated content based on community standards and client guidelines" and that its clients' systems are not set up to allow Teleperformance to remove offending material or report it to law enforcement authorities.A spokesperson for TikTok told the BBC:"TikTok has zero tolerance for exploitation. We enforce strict safety policies, including robust Live content rules, moderation in 70 languages, including Swahili, and we partner with local experts and creators, including our Sub-Saharan Africa Safety Advisory Council to continually strengthen our approach."
