Facebook, TikTok promoted Colombian armed groups' content to recruit children: NGO

Bogota, Colombia - Facebook and TikTok were criticized by Human Rights Watch (HRW) for allowing content produced by Colombian armed groups to be shared with the goal of recruiting children. The organization reported that these posts glorify life within armed groups and offer misleading employment opportunities. Between 2021 and 2025, nearly 1,500 children have reportedly been recruited.

Children are often used in combat, weapon handling, drone operations, explosives placement, and intelligence gathering. Roughly half of these recruits are Indigenous, despite Indigenous individuals comprising only about four percent of the population. Girls account for about 40 percent of the child recruits and are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.

HRW accused social media platforms of not adequately preventing the spread of such content. The group informed Meta, Facebook's parent company, and ByteDance, TikTok's owner, about the issue. Both companies stated that they had removed the specific content in question. Meta emphasized its continuous efforts to improve its strategies to combat such content across its platforms.

TikTok claimed to proactively prevent illegal armed groups and organized criminal groups from using its platform, including to target, exploit, or recruit minors.

The 2016 peace agreement between Colombia's government and the FARC guerrilla group ended a half-century of conflict, yet the HRW report revealed that remaining armed groups still control significant territories in remote northeastern and southern regions of the country. The newly elected President, Abelardo de la Espriella, pledged to combat armed groups and intends to form a military alliance with the United States and Israel.