Africa

Somali TikTok battles: ‘Why I spent my university fees on the Big Tribal Game’

At kick-off, sometimes the debates continues, but the in-game chatter can be fairly mundane. The action is between the people donating, trying to outspend each other.

There is a whole new language, a digital currency and many obscure rules that are part of the gameplay, adding a surreal quality to the events.

We saw some of the highest value items being gifted, like the “TikTok universe”, which is worth more than $500 (£385) and equates to almost 50,000 TikTok coins. It prompts an animation of people dancing to a catchy song.

Slightly cheaper at $400 (£308) and a fan favourite is the lion, which roars loudly when it runs on the screen. Or there is the gentler whale swimming out of an underwater tunnel.

Some gifts apply filters to the influencer’s face like the cowboy hat and moustache, a red beret or seasonal pumpkin head.

Zara says she started playing because she wanted to defend the pride of her clan.

It was “exciting” and “my side always won”, she recalls.

But Zara spent more than $7,000, meant to pay for her university fees, on the games.

“My parents, if they found out that I spend a lot of money in TikTok, they would be devastated – they would not [be] happy – but somehow it’s kind of like addiction.”

She also questions why she gave away hard-earned cash to influencers who very rarely showed any gratitude.

But as she was pulled deeper into this world, she experienced something much more sinister.

We have seen evidence that a US-based male influencer has been insulting female TikTokers and making threats against them – threatening to post sexualised images of them.

Zara says it happens a lot: “They find who you are, they grab your family photos, your picture, and they say, ‘I’m gonna expose you.'”

She says the US-based male influencer did this to her and she was so scared and worried her family would see a manipulated picture that he threatened to share, she could not sleep at night.

“Imagine your family see your photos in a naked body. They don’t know it was Photoshopped.”

When Zara reported the account to TikTok, she says they did not act.

The influencer goes by the name Hussein Kibray online and has more than 200,000 followers. He frequently takes part in the games.

Zara believes other women have been threatened in this way but we have not seen images Photoshopped of her – or other women – shared by him in the public domain.

We asked him about his behaviour but he did not respond to our message.

After the BBC contacted TikTok about Kibray’s accounts, the social media platform replied to say it had now banned them for violating its policies on adult sexual and physical abuse.

In a statement a TikTok spokesperson said: “We prioritise the safety of our community with some of the industry’s firmest streaming requirements, including specific policies for Match content, customisable safety tools for viewers, and only allowing people over 18 to go live or send gifts.”


Source link

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button