Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday (24) that Facebook and TikTok are failing to detect, remove and block content produced by Colombian armed groups to recruit minors, and that the platforms' algorithms appear to even promote such posts. According to the organization, this material helped fuel a recruitment drive that has drawn in at least 1,500 children and teenagers since 2021, with a sharp rise in cases since 2023, based on data from Colombia's Ombudsman's Office.
The report, titled "I Thought I'd Never See My Mom Again", was presented in Bogotá and describes dozens of profiles on the two networks showing weapons, uniforms, bundles of cash, jewelry and bracelets identifying each group, some set to narcocorridos, songs that glorify criminal organizations. Combined, the profiles had more than 85,000 followers, and some videos topped 250,000 views and 50,000 likes. In the comments, users asked how to join groups such as the Clan del Golfo cartel, the ELN guerrilla and the FARC dissident factions that rejected the 2016 peace deal. Some posts offered to cover travel costs for willing recruits. The armed groups sell "a lifestyle" of "easy money", said Mathew Charles, a former Unicef adviser in Colombia who runs Mi Historia, a foundation that works with vulnerable youth.
"Digital platforms need to recognize that they are being used to recruit girls and boys. In practice, they are being used to commit crimes, including war crimes", said Juanita Goebertus, HRW's Americas director, at the launch of the report.
Indigenous children make up nearly half of victims
Nearly half of the recruited minors are indigenous, even though indigenous peoples account for only 4% of Colombia's population. Girls represent 40% of cases and are exposed to sexual violence, and more than 30% of those recruited were between 10 and 14 years old, which could be classified as a war crime under the Rome Statute, HRW said. The groups use children mainly to fight, gather intelligence and operate drones. Recruitment feeds on poverty, social exclusion, domestic violence and poor access to education, often through intermediaries paid up to US$1,000 per child, and at times takes place inside rural schools. FARC dissidents account for 74% of recruitments recorded between 2021 and 2025, mostly in the southwestern department of Cauca.
Companies say profiles were removed
HRW says it sent ByteDance, TikTok's owner, a list of 35 profiles in July, and Meta, Facebook's parent company, a list of 16. In August, both companies said they had removed all the flagged material, but researchers found new posts promoting the groups, some of them active for more than a month. Meta confirmed the authenticity of a letter attached to the report, signed by its human rights manager Alex Warofka, in which it says it condemns child recruitment and is constantly refining its detection of content that violates its policies, according to CNN Brasil. ByteDance said it "proactively" stops illegal armed groups and criminal organizations from using the platform for that purpose.
Over six decades of armed conflict in Colombia, guerrillas and drug traffickers recruited poor children and teenagers. The 2016 peace deal disarmed most of the FARC, but dissident factions and other armed groups have expanded since then. President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on August 7, has launched a military offensive against these organizations with help from the United States and Israel. The report draws on nearly 200 interviews with officials, aid workers, indigenous leaders and children who were recruited or at risk, and HRW is urging the new government to adopt a comprehensive security and justice policy with guaranteed funding for child protection agencies.
The issue has a direct Brazilian connection: a Federal Police investigation found that the Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil's largest criminal gangs, relies on businessmen and pilots to bring drugs from Colombia into Brazil, according to a G1 report published on August 13.