Human Rights Watch says Colombian armed groups are using Facebook and TikTok to recruit children, and that the two platforms have failed to detect, remove or prevent the content.
The human rights organization published its findings on August 24, 2026, as Avisen Danmark reports. According to the report, content produced by Colombian armed groups to recruit minors has spread on both platforms without being stopped.
Since 2021, around 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups in Colombia, Human Rights Watch states. The groups use children in combat and to handle weapons, drones and explosives. In some cases, children without combat training are used as what the organization calls cannon fodder.
Human Rights Watch also says the platforms’ algorithms in some cases appeared to promote the recruitment posts, most likely increasing the groups’ reach. Juanita Goebertus, director of the organization’s Americas division, said digital platforms must recognize that they are being used to commit crimes, including war crimes, according to AFP.
The full report runs to 102 pages and is titled “I Thought I’d Never See My Mom Again: Recruitment and Use of Children by Colombian Armed Groups,” per Human Rights Watch. Researchers reviewed more than 70 accounts and 40 posts that glorified life in armed groups and encouraged users, including children, to join.
The Miami Herald reports that the organization identified 52 TikTok accounts and 20 Facebook accounts promoting armed life, using images of camouflage, cash and weapons alongside offers of transport. According to data from Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace cited by Human Rights Watch, 44 percent of children recruited in 2025 were approached through social media. The same figure was reported by Mercopress.
Almost half of the recruited children are Indigenous, although Indigenous peoples make up about 4 percent of Colombia’s population, the organization says. Girls account for roughly 40 percent of those recruited and are particularly exposed to sexual violence.
Platform responses
Human Rights Watch says it contacted both Meta, which owns Facebook, and ByteDance, which owns TikTok. Both companies said they had removed the specific content identified and that they work continuously to prevent armed groups from recruiting children on their platforms, according to AFP.
ABC News adds that the report describes children being trained for dangerous tasks, including piloting drones carrying explosives. The outlet notes that Meta and TikTok say they prohibit violent content and removed the accounts flagged by the organization.
Human Rights Watch says it is publishing the report now because child recruitment in Colombia has risen sharply in recent years while protection systems have failed. Colombia’s newly installed president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has promised a crackdown on armed groups and plans a military alliance with the United States and others, Avisen Danmark reports.
