Traffickers launching migrants across the Channel on small boats were promoting the crossings on TikTok – and being paid by the tech giant.
The smugglers offered a ‘subscription’ service. They paid £5.39 a month through TikTok, which takes a cut of up to 50 per cent.
Migrants subscribed to live video calls with the smuggler. One account had 3,550 followers and another 22,300, so traffickers could be earning thousands of pounds.
The subscription service is a widely used feature for TikTok which makes clear on its website that after app store fees, ‘TikTok splits the revenue up to 50/50 with you’.The Mail on Sunday contacted two subscription service users who promoted a new life in Britain on their profile.
One revealed dates of crossings. A clip showed a Border Force vessel beside a small boat heading to Britain.
