Indonesia’s TikTok trend of begging for money in mud sparks backlash, exploitation concerns
- Modern TikTok beggars, mostly elderly women, have taken to pouring dirty river water over themselves on demand, in exchange for virtual gifts
- Jakarta condemns videos, urges public to report similar content and create material that does not take advantage of Indonesians’ generosity
In the past month, internet users in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy have been stunned by a growing number of online beggars, who take advantage of the gift-giving features offered by TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance.
The video-sharing platform allows any accounts with at least 1,000 followers to film live-stream videos, and viewers can show appreciation by sending virtual gifts which are convertible to actual money.
Unlike in real life, where beggars might sit for hours in scorching heat or wander around asking for cash, many of these modern TikTok beggars – mostly elderly women – have taken to pouring dirty river water over themselves on demand, in exchange for virtual gifts.
A live-stream video of this so-called “mud bath” can take hours. After one such video went viral earlier this month, people have been questioning whether the women are doing the stunts out of their own will or are being exploited by family members.
“This woman looks like she’s really forced to do this, poor her,” said TikTok user atorizzs, whose screen recordings of the mud bath video went viral this month.
The videos have met with a backlash in Indonesia, which makes up TikTok’s second-biggest user base in the world with 99.1 million users, below the United States’ 136.4 million.
Sultan said on January 19 that he first did the mud bath with his friends to gain some money from his followers on TikTok. His neighbours then asked to get involved, “as they were poor and entangled in debt”, he said.
Initially, he limited the live-stream to an hour, but stopped doing so as the views and gifts kept coming. At one point, he even kept the live-stream going for 24 hours.
One of the women, Raimin, said she was not forced to do the stunt since she needed money. “I am poor, I don’t have money to buy [groceries], I live alone,” the 66 year-old said, adding that she had done this five times, earning 2 million rupiah (US$133) for each round.
Meanwhile, another woman in Gowa Regency, in South Sulawesi province, also made headlines after she sought donations on TikTok by feeding her seven month-old baby instant coffee instead of formula. The single mother, who worked as a waitress in a restaurant, has previously posted videos of her baby being fed fried rice and spicy chicken, though she told the police that she only pretended to feed the baby in front of the camera. Her videos have been taken down.
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The videos have sparked condemnation in Jakarta, with social minister Tri Rismaharini issuing a circular urging the public to report similar videos to local authorities.
She also called on her staff to “prevent begging activities, both offline and/or online, on social media that exploit the elderly, children, persons with disabilities, and/or other vulnerable groups”.
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second largest Muslim-moderate group, said “begging and asking for [free goods and money] demeans human honour and it is forbidden” in Islam.
Tourism and creative economy minister Sandiaga Uno on Sunday urged content creators to create “good content with good values” that would not exploit Indonesians’ generosity.
The ministry of communications and informatics said on Monday it had asked TikTok to take down the mud bath videos. The platform told local news outlet Merdeka that it was “very concerned” by the online begging videos, and urged users to report any inappropriate content.
Devie Rahmawati, sociologist at the University of Indonesia, said such videos were likely to continue as long as “there are people who feel they have done good by giving help [directly to the beggars]”.
“In the digital world, the way we give help doesn’t feel like we are giving help, for example by giving gifts, or symbols or features. These gifts can then be capitalised on by the person asking for help,” she said.
Devie called on the government to educate the public to ensure their donations were used for appropriate purposes.
Sultan on Sunday apologised for the mud bath videos and promised to make better content in the future.
“I’m ready to delete everything so that other TikTokers won’t follow. I apologise for the viral content on my account,” he said.
