On TikTok live streams, girls as young as 15 are being exploited into selling sexual content. #BBCAfricaEye investigates to find out who is profiting.
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With its many dancing challenges and comedy sketches, it’s no surprise TikTok is popular with young Kenyans. The app is also a way for them to make money through its gifting service. But there’s a darker side, where young women – including teenage girls as young as 15 – are selling sexual content on live streams, with some being recruited and exploited by “digital pimps”.
Africa Eye's Debula Kemoli investigates.
A spokesperson for TikTok told the BBC it has zero tolerance for exploitation, enforces strict safety policies and has robust live content rules and moderation in place for 70 languages, including Swahili.
00:00 Liked, Lured, Livestreamed: The Dark World of Digital Brothels
01:24 The world's fastest growing platform
02:08 Rising unemployment, more TikTok influencers
04:06 'Midnight TikTok'
05:58 Underage girls groomed by 'digital pimps'
08:55 A child safeguarding expert's view
09:41 'He laughed and said I can't report him'
12:18 'The easiest place to prey on children'
14:06 Support group: Educating girl survivors
15:40 'I feel haunted'
17:08 How can Kenyan children be protected?
18:33 TikTok content moderator speaks to the BBC
🚨 UPDATE 06/03/25: Kenya's Communications Authority orders TikTok to remove sexual abuse content involving minors from its platform, following this #BBCAfricaEye investigation.
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Africa Eye brings you original, investigative journalism revealing secrets and rooting out injustice in the world’s most complex and exciting continent. Nothing stays hidden forever.
🎞️ Check out all Africa Eye investigations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLajyiGz4JeyO2qgCvioQO-BzP1XCajJqt
🎧 Listen to The Documentary podcast on this investigation "TikTok and the digital pimps" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct7y7s
📰 Read about this investigation here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cedl8eyy4pjo
🎥 Watch this film in SWAHILI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6VaUs4feG0 and in FRENCH here: https://youtu.be/WSMQHn4WVq8
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