HOAX: TikTok is not offering users free data
The promo is not listed on the TikTok website among others the social network is running.
This link shared in WhatsApp groups with the promise of free 30GB of data for TikTok streaming is a HOAX.
The data offers unlimited streaming for two months, the post indicates, and includes a count of how many users have so far “taken advantage of this offer”.
When a user clicks on the link, a new page appears in which one is asked to check their eligibility for the gift. They are asked to click a green bar to confirm whether the phone number can receive the promised free data.
Also, on the page, are messages from purported winners thanking TikTok for sending the data.
PesaCheck followed the instructions, including filling in one’s phone number and the mobile network that they are connected to. Another notification appeared showing that this fact-checker has qualified for the offer.
However, one is asked to share the link in five WhatsApp groups instead of receiving the data. A user is expected to share the link until the entire white bar below the text turns green.
PesaCheck has debunked claims issuing similar instructions, but which turn out to be hoaxes, as seen here. Additionally, this process is consistent with phishing scams.
We also conducted a keyword search on the web to establish whether this promotion has been mentioned anywhere, but the results were negative.
On the TikTok website, promotions other than this one offering 30GB are listed.
PesaCheck has looked into a link being shared in Whatsapp groups offering users free 30GB for TikTok streaming and finds it to be a HOAX.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Flavia Nassaka and PesaCheck Senior Copy Editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.
