1 / 3Photo: Stefan Jerrevång/TT
Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem have made themselves known this summer by burning Korans in Stockholm.
On Tiktok they have broadcast live to spread their message but they have also made money through gifts from viewers.
Through their controversial Koran burnings, Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem have put Sweden in a vulnerable position in terms of security policy. The Swedish embassy in Iraq has been stormed and Säpo is considering raising the terror threat level.
The actions have stirred up strong emotions from all sides – some are on the side of the Koran-burners, while others are in despair over the situation. The men receive tributes and cheers at the same time as hate and threats flow towards them. Salwan Momika has, according to himself, a price on his head.
The Koran burning actions have been live streamed on Tiktok by Momika and Najem themselves. On the side, Momika has also posted videos criticizing Islam and some Muslim leaders. The videos have received tens of millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes.
– I use Tiktok to reach out and explain to Swedes that Islam and the Koran are two dangerous things. What I am doing is something philosophical and enlightening, it is not hate, says Salwan Momika to TT.
Earn thousands of kroner
He broadcasts live in the app almost daily, where viewers give him thousands of gifts that generate so-called “diamonds” in the app, which he exchanges for money. He also has Paypal accounts that viewers are encouraged to donate to.
TT has watched several live broadcasts and can state that the gifts are flowing in. In the past week, Salwan Momika has also been high on Tiktok’s weekly ranking which lists those who have received the most diamonds. As of Saturday, he had collected 222,400 diamonds, according to the list.
– You don’t get money for film clips and videos, but during my live broadcasts you can give money as a gift. But that’s something I don’t care about, says Salwan Momika.
TT: How much can it be?
– Sometimes it can be 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000 kroner per live broadcast.
He continues:
– I don’t get any help from social services, so I live on that money. I can stand on my own two feet.
Companion Salwan Najem also accepts gifts on Tiktok, but he is not as high up on the weekly rankings.
Low sums
There are various gifts that viewers can give to people they like, after using real money to buy Tiktok currency in the app, called coins.
Each gift costs a different amount, the cheapest costs a coin (around 20 öre depending on the package) while others are significantly more expensive. The most expensive costs the equivalent of over SEK 7,000.
The gifts are converted into diamonds that can be exchanged for money. A diamond is worth half a coin (10 öre) to the person who publishes because Tiktok takes 50 percent.
Johannes Gustavsson is CEO of Infly, which is an influencer agency with several Swedish Tiktok creators. Some of the profiles associated with him receive gifts via live broadcasts, but large amounts are unusual, according to him.
– Based on their answers, it seems that the phenomenon is still not very widespread in Sweden because they earn around five kroner per live stream, he says.
Taxable income
In Sweden, you have to pay tax on income that exceeds SEK 22,208 in a year. Salwan Momika tells us that he does not know how the tax system works except that gifts are tax-free.
– But if there were to be a tax on it, I am prepared to do it, he says.
According to the Swedish Tax Agency, this type of gift does not count as “real” gifts, but is seen as taxable income.
– When people you don’t know choose to give because you like their work, it’s income. It doesn’t matter if it’s called a “gift” if it’s the person’s income, says Pia Blank Thörnroos, tax lawyer at the Swedish Tax Agency’s legal department.
Since the money from Tiktok is often transferred via Paypal, it is up to the creator to indicate this himself in the declaration, which may not always be done.
– Many people think that the Swedish Tax Agency already knows everything, but of course there can be hidden information.
The money that Salwan Momika receives through Tiktok gifts and Paypal is his livelihood, he says. He has also saved money to be able to hire a lawyer to handle his case with the Swedish Migration Agency.
– So far, many people have chosen to donate, but I don’t have an exact figure, he says.
TT has applied for Tiktok.
FACTS Tiktok
Tiktok is an app where users primarily create and share short video clips, often accompanied by music. Tiktok is owned by China’s Bytedance, which launched the app in China in 2016 under the name Douyin.
Tiktok is one of the world’s fastest growing social media platforms and is especially popular among children. The exact number of users is hard to come by when it comes to social media, but Tiktok is estimated to have around one billion active users. Facebook, by comparison, has almost three billion active users.
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