1 week ago
Rights Group Says Social Platforms Enabled Child Recruitment
Human Rights Watch says armed groups in Colombia used Facebook and TikTok to attract children.
Some posts showed money, jewelry, training camps and music praising drug traffickers.
The posts sometimes offered misleading jobs or made armed-group life look exciting.
About 1,500 children were reportedly recruited since 2021.
Children were used to fight, carry weapons, operate drones and gather information.
Nearly half of the recruited children were Indigenous, and girls faced a high risk of sexual violence.
Human Rights Watch said the platforms did not do enough to stop the posts.
Meta and TikTok said they removed the specific content reported to them.
Human Rights Watch said Facebook and TikTok failed to stop armed-group recruitment content targeting Colombian children.
About 1,500 children have reportedly been recruited by armed groups since 2021.
Children have been used for combat, weapons, drones, explosives and intelligence work.
Indigenous children make up nearly half of recruits, while girls represent about 40 percent.
Meta and TikTok said they removed the specific posts identified by Human Rights Watch.
- Who
- Human Rights Watch, Meta, TikTok and Colombian armed groups, including FARC dissident groups.
- What
- Human Rights Watch reported that social-media content linked to armed groups was used to recruit children.
- Where
- Colombia, including remote areas controlled by armed groups.
- When
- The report was issued on Monday; it cited recruitment cases documented from 2021 to 2025.
- Why
- Armed groups used social-media posts to glorify their ranks and circulate deceptive job offers to potential recruits.
Human Rights Watch’s criticism
Platforms’ response
Content moderation
Human Rights Watch’s criticism
Human Rights Watch said Facebook and TikTok failed to prevent the spread of armed-group recruitment content and sometimes appeared to promote it.
Platforms’ response
Meta said it continually works to improve its approach, while TikTok said it proactively prevents armed and criminal groups from using the platform to recruit minors.
Specific posts
Human Rights Watch’s criticism
Human Rights Watch said posts glorified armed-group life, offered deceptive jobs and attracted comments from users asking how to join.
Platforms’ response
Meta and TikTok said they removed the specific content that Human Rights Watch reported to them.
Key facts
- Reported child recruitment
- Around 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, according to Human Rights Watch.
- Main alleged recruiters
- FARC dissident groups accounted for 74 percent of documented child-recruitment cases from 2021 to 2025.
- Indigenous children
- Nearly half of child recruits are Indigenous, although Indigenous people represent about 4 percent of Colombia’s population.
- Girls recruited
- Girls account for around 40 percent of child recruits and are particularly exposed to sexual violence.
- Reported uses of children
- Children have been used for combat, weapons, drones, explosives and intelligence gathering.
- Platforms’ response
- Meta and TikTok said they removed the specific content identified by Human Rights Watch.
Quotes
TikTok
A social media platform owned by ByteDance
“proactively (prevents) illegal armed groups and organized criminal groups from using TikTok, including to target, exploit or recruit minors.”
deccanchronicle.com
“constantly strives to refine (its) approach to combating it across (its) platforms.”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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