A TikTok feature that Pakistan’s dirty money loves
Social media is now working as a high-speed pipeline to move money comfortably outside the perimeter of financial regulations. On TikTok and other apps, likes, gifts and livestream donations are converted into platform-specific digital credits. A follower buys virtual currency with their debit card, mobile wallet, or bank account, then sends gifts to the TikToker or creator during live streams or content interactions. The app takes a commission and sends the remaining ‘amount’ to the TikToker’s internal wallet. Once you earn a minimum amount, or cross a threshold, you can withdraw or transfer earnings through payment processors, digital wallets, or linked bank accounts into your local currency. In practice, a transaction that begins as a seemingly harmless “gift” or online appreciation can pass through multiple layers — virtual tokens, platform wallets, payment intermediaries, and cross-border processors — before emerging as legitimate funds in a bank account. What appears on the surface as digital admiration may, in reality, become part of a complex financial pathway operating beyond the visibility of conventional oversight mechanisms. A shadow financial channel has emerged, embedded within entertainment infrastructure, and it was only a matter of time before the wrong people started to pay attention. Live hearts and roses In 2025, unsealed state court documents, which were part of a consumer protection lawsuit by Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection, pulled back the curtain on Project Jupiter , a 2021 internal investigation by TikTok. The tech giant had harboured suspicions that organised crime was treating its live gifting feature for money laundering. The internal investigation revealed a high risk of money laundering, but TikTok allegedly failed to do anything about it. Financial authorities in Turkiye launched a probe when $82 million flowing through TikTok accounts reeked of terrorism financing. Regulators in Australia and the Unit...
Original source: Dawn Pakistan