Under the ethical microscope

In the depths of the modern digital age, smart phone applications ascend to platforms of power and chart new life paths for individuals, emerging in the sky of the digital “economy.” Individuals turn to them in search of an unparalleled opportunity to achieve profit and financial independence, but here honesty and responsibility intersect with profit and success, in the world of... It embraces both opportunities and challenges.

Millions in revenue
Recently, the phenomenon of “chat commerce” has spread in Syria through chat applications such as “Bigo Live - Meco Live - Party Star - Likee - Imo... and others,” which enable users to share their live moments with followers, who can support favorite users with “gifts.” “Inside the application, achieving large profits monthly, sparking widespread controversy about the nature of work that can hide an unethical face.

According to a Syrian newspaper, the profession of working in these applications requires the presence of an agent to whom the user who wants to work as a content creator or broadcaster sends an application that includes his personal data, and after the agent’s approval, he sets working hours for him (daily broadcast hours), during which he relies on collecting profit points. “Target”, which are awarded from the moment you enter the application and accumulate over time to turn into gifts.

For example, every 150 points is converted into a gift, and every 500 is converted into symbols with several names such as “Diamond” and “Dragon”, and each symbol is disbursed financially according to its price, with the exception of “challenges” and “paid gifts” that followers charge to user accounts with several symbols for each. Including its price, the agent’s task is to convert the points into money in exchange for a 20 percent commission, and the money is sent through local remittance companies, with most profits ranging from $200 to $1,000 per month, according to the newspaper.

Bigo Live broadcasters
“Bigo Live” is very popular in Syria, and it relies on direct and continuous broadcasting. It was launched by a Singaporean company in 2016. Usually, one of the application’s agents in Lebanon is contacted, and then the agent opens an account for the person to begin the work of opening the broadcast and speaking in generalities.

In light of these data, one of the young women who works through this application says that she sought to prove herself strongly in the digital work arena, and did not find any objection to exploiting her femininity, adding that her work is similar to the work of a broadcaster on television, but here she has to be the preparer, director, photographer, and broadcaster in Ann together.

This program includes what are called “challenges”, for example between two girls, and the one who wins the challenge stipulates that the loser must take measures that if she does not implement them, she may lose her entire wallet.

There are some discussions that take place without challenges, and they may be civilized and cultural discussions that serve the service of science, and money is earned through them through profit points, but this type of dialogue is few and rare, according to many who work in this application.

Sound.. without picture
Many of them, including girls, tend to choose an application for voice and text chat to work in, instead of applications that show the image and sound together, and for those who enter to chat with these girls, they load their “wallet” account with gifts to give to the one who broadcasts live, and their wallet is shipped from what is called a “store.” “Bigo Live,” and with these “paid” gifts, you are drawn to so-called private live broadcasts and suspicious requests.

Artists on line
Many artists and “influencers” are active on chat and live broadcast applications. They may be exposed to offensive comments and insults, but something like this may sometimes work to their advantage, as their news continues on the media and social networking sites, and they become the “trend” thanks to their fame.

Syrian drama witnessed a significant decline during the years of war, which put Syrian artists in major financial crises, which pushed them to work on live broadcast programs in search of work and money, as Syrian artists stormed into many applications such as “Bigo Live,” “Tik Tok,” “Miko Live,” and “Line.”

In a statement by the Syrian artist “Yazan Al-Sayyed,” who was previously active on “Bigo Live” for the “In a Trap” program, he said that he receives the equivalent of 200 million Syrian pounds from his work on the Bigo program monthly, and that this income increases or decreases according to the support provided to him during the month.

Despite this, the presence of artists in such programs was widely attacked and criticized, especially after many artists began participating in programs in which there were no ethical controls, and followers considered that the artist’s participation with another girl who showed off her body’s charms diminished his artistic value.

The biggest problem is that many of these applications are used as backdoors to electronic prostitution, as information and communications technology has facilitated the spread of online prostitution in most countries through the digital world, and the network has become a place for the exchange of sexual goods and services, and “physical prostitution” has been reproduced in the digital space, where people work on... Recruiting girls and women through virtual spaces and chat applications.

Not everyone wants electronic prostitution
The financial motive is a major factor behind this appearance, according to activists on these sites both inside and outside Syria. For example, on the Bigo Live application, there are girls inside who target the Gulf countries in their broadcasts and ban their content from appearing in Syria to avoid community reactions. Most of them do not come to this program to sell their bodies. As many claim, they do not present any violation in their content, but rather conversations, dialogues, and discussions carried out by various people on the ground in our society, but they refuse to see them on television, on Facebook, Tiktok, or Bigo Live.
  According to the activists, the benefits from these applications help them study, secure their future, help their family, and provide them with a good monthly income.

Experts’ opinion on what is happening:
Dr. in human development and consultant in marital relations, Adnan Olaba, explained to “Dama Platform” that these electronic applications are a double-edged sword, as they facilitated social communication between people and contributed to providing

services and delivering products, and they also helped in developing science And obtain knowledge remotely.
Olaba pointed out the problem in these applications, as an example of which is “Bigo Live”, and stressed that it lies in undermining the role of the state, the philosophy of the market, and promoting the philosophy of permissibility, invasion, and universal stereotyping of human beings, through a live broadcast that enables users to share intimate moments with followers, whether they are moments of excitement. The instinctive mind, such as eating, drinking, or sex.
Olaba emphasized that the goal of these applications is to undermine the morals on which the strength of the cohesion of families and thus societies is based, and their primary goal is quick profit by stimulating the instincts to hoard money, commodify people, and trade in their bodies, instincts, and feelings in order to obtain certain amounts of money.
In turn, mental health specialist Sarah Amer explained to Dama Platform that such applications have become a real problem and that their morally destructive effects are not limited to one society or another, and their bad effects can be felt through the rise in sexual violence in society.
Amer added that these applications led to the family losing its values and principles and changed the feeling towards women to vulgarity instead of respect, and from affection to insult, not to mention the psychological impact on the individual, especially when he is exposed to electronic blackmail, which makes him live in a state of internal conflicts, anxiety, tension and depression.