A storm of criticism for TikTok, but this time Trump has nothing to do with it. In recent days, in fact, an investigation by the "Observer" has shed light on the behavior of the platform, which seems to be profiting economically from live broadcasts of poor children begging, despite claiming to prohibit begging.

TikTok's algorithm is apparently promoting videos featuring minors begging to receive virtual gifts, to be exchanged for cash, while taking commissions of up to 70% from the content's revenue.

“The practices documented represent significant abuses and immediate action must be taken to ensure that platforms no longer allow, or directly or indirectly benefit from, such content,” said Jeffrey DeMarco of Save The Children.

The investigation, conducted by the Observer between January and April this year, uncovered evidence of begging and similar behavior in Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt and Kenya. What is particularly striking is that many of the live streams appear to be deliberately created to attract users’ attention and extract money.

Beyond begging, in fact, many of the videos featured children and adults from poor countries filmed performing dangerous or degrading acts in exchange for money, such as hitting themselves causing pain, standing covered for a long time on camera.

To put an end to this situation, following the Observer's investigation, the Chinese social network removed some of the accounts reported by the English magazine's investigation. And it said it had taken "strong action" against content that promoted unnecessary treatment in the past, such as suspending live videos or issuing permanent bans to accounts that promoted them.

"We categorically prohibit the exploitation of begging and, if we find evidence of child exploitation, we adopt strict measures, which include shutting down Live and permanently suspending broadcasters," a TikTok spokesperson said.

(BalkanWeb)