‘Profiting from misery’: how TikTok makes money from child begging livestreams

Examples of accounts which appear to show families begging and, on the left, men in Pakistan who are mostly sleeping but wake up to perform a dance. Photograph: TikTok

Three young children huddle in front of a camera, cross-legged and cupping their hands. “Please support me. We are very poor,” says a boy, staring down the lens.

They appear to be in a mud-brick hut in Afghanistan, living in extreme poverty. But their live stream is reaching viewers in the UK and worldwide – via TikTok Live.