A BBC investigation has revealed allegations that TikTok is profiting from sexually suggestive livestreams featuring minors as young as 15.
Interviews with three Kenyan women, who began these activities as teenagers, indicate that TikTok is used to advertise and arrange payments for explicit content distributed through external messaging platforms.
Despite its policy prohibiting solicitation, TikTok is reportedly aware of these activities, according to internal moderators.
The platform retains a substantial portion of livestream transaction revenue. The company maintains a “zero tolerance” stance against exploitation.
Observations revealed numerous late-night livestreams originating from Kenya, featuring suggestive performances viewed by global audiences, with digital “gifts” exchanged during these streams.
“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.
With digital “gifts” exchanged during these streams. Furthermore, the investigation revealed the use of coded sexual slang within some livestreams, serving to advertise sexual services. These digital gifts function as payment, not only for the TikTok livestreams themselves, but also for more explicit content subsequently shared on other platforms, as TikTok’s moderation policies prevent overt sexual acts and nudity. These gifts are convertible to 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.
Despite previous denials, our investigation confirms that TikTok continues to retain approximately 70% of revenue generated from livestream gifts. This contradicts the company’s assertions following a similar finding in our 2022 inquiry.
Furthermore, allegations within an ongoing lawsuit brought by the US state of Utah claim that TikTok was aware of child exploitation within its livestreams as early as 2022, yet failed to address the issue due to substantial profits. TikTok refutes these claims, citing its “proactive measures” to enhance platform safety.
ChildFund Kenya identifies Kenya as a focal point for this form of abuse, attributing it to a young population and widespread internet access. The charity also notes disparities in online moderation capabilities between African nations and Western countries.
A former content moderator, ‘Jo,’ employed by Teleperformance, a TikTok contractor, reports that moderation guidelines, while outlining prohibited sexual terms and actions, are insufficiently nuanced to address slang or suggestive non-verbal cues.
“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.”
Further compounding the issue, another Teleperformance content moderator, identified as Kelvin, reports that TikTok’s growing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) for moderation significantly limits the detection of regionally specific sexual slang.
Kelvin asserts that AI algorithms lack the necessary sensitivity to accurately interpret these nuanced forms of communication. Both Jo and Kelvin, along with five other current and former TikTok content moderators, have expressed serious concerns regarding the platform’s moderation practices.
Jo estimates that approximately 80% of livestreams flagged for review by moderators involve sexual content or the advertising of sexual services, indicating TikTok’s awareness of the issue’s prevalence.
ChildFund Kenya and other charitable organizations have reported instances of children as young as nine participating in these activities.
Interviews with teenage girls and young women reveal that they dedicate up to six or seven hours nightly to these livestreams, earning an average of £30 per day, which is sufficient to cover essential living expenses such as food and transportation.
“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.
The young woman reported that she was 15 years old when a friend introduced her to TikTok’s livestreaming feature.
This friend facilitated the circumvention of age restrictions, as TikTok’s policies require users to be 18 or older to access livestreaming.
Additionally, a minimum of 1,000 followers is necessary to initiate a live broadcast. This situation creates an environment where users with substantial followings can function as intermediaries, hosting livestreams that facilitate the sale of sexual content.
The presence of backup accounts among these users suggests previous suspensions or bans by TikTok. These individuals appear to possess the ability to evade detection by TikTok’s content moderation systems while strategically employing suggestive content to attract and maintain viewer interest.
“When you’re dancing, move away from the camera, otherwise you’ll get blocked,” shouts a pimp to a woman twerking on screen.
The women involved in these activities are required to provide a portion of their earnings to the individuals hosting their livestreams. This arrangement frequently devolves into exploitative practices, as illustrated by Esther’s experience.
She alleges that the individual hosting her livestreams was aware of her underage status and exhibited a pattern of targeting young girls. She further states that he exerted pressure on her to increase her earnings, necessitating more frequent livestreams, and that he appropriated a larger percentage of her income than initially agreed upon.
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“So if an emoji is sent which is 35,000ksh, he takes 20,000ksh and you only get 15,000ksh.”
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 expresses profound regret for her involvement in online sexual activity. She reports that some of the video content she shared with users on external platforms was subsequently uploaded to social media without her authorization.
This resulted in social ostracization within her community, with neighbors becoming aware of her activities and cautioning other young people against associating with her.
“They brand me as a lost sheep, and young people are told that I’ll mislead them. I am lonely most of the time.”
Interviews conducted with several girls and women revealed instances of being paid for in-person sexual encounters with TikTok users, as well as cases of coercion into sexual activity by their hosts.
Content moderators in Kenya have expressed concerns that TikTok, while actively expanding its presence in African markets, is not allocating sufficient resources to adequately monitor content.
The Kenyan government has demonstrated awareness of these issues. In 2023, President William Ruto met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to advocate for enhanced content moderation. The government reported that TikTok agreed to implement stricter regulations and establish a Kenyan office to coordinate operations.
However, moderators interviewed for this report stated that, more than 18 months later, neither of these measures had been implemented.
Teleperformance, in response to inquiries, stated that its moderators “work diligently to tag and flag user-generated content based on community standards and client guidelines.”
They further clarified that their clients’ systems do not provide Teleperformance with the authority to remove offending material or report it to law enforcement agencies.
A spokesperson for TikTok provided the following statement to 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.”
