{
  "id": 2971411,
  "title": "Almost half the minors recruited by armed groups in 2025 were approached via social media",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/almost-half-the-minors-recruited-by-armed-groups-in-2025-were",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T07:32:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MercoPress",
    "slug": "mercopress",
    "url": "https://en.mercopress.com/2026/08/24/almost-half-the-minors-recruited-by-armed-groups-in-2025-were-approached-via-social-media"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 2025, nearly half of the children and adolescents recruited by armed groups in Colombia were lured through social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Monday. The 124-page document, titled \"I Thought I Would Never See My Mother Again,\" compiled 184 interviews with officials, humanitarian workers, indigenous leaders, and child protection staff. The organization examined records from the Ombudsman's Office and found that at least 1,500 minors were recruited since 2021, with a significant rise from 2023 to 2024. Juanita Goebertus, Human Rights Watch's Americas director, stated that armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity, aided by the effectiveness of social media. The report highlights that over the past decade, only 0.2% of recruitment complaints led to convictions, and more than half of the cases occurred in the Cauca department. FARC dissident groups are responsible for the majority of complaints. The majority of those recruited were aged 15 or 16, but over 30% involved minors aged between 10 and 14, with indigenous children accounting for almost half of the documented cases.",
  "summary": "Some 44% of children and adolescents recruited by armed groups in Colombia during 2025 were approached through social media or platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, according to data from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace cited in a Human Rights Watch report published on Monday.",
  "key_points": [
    "Nearly half of minors recruited by armed groups in Colombia in 2025 approached via social media.",
    "Human Rights Watch report released on Monday, detailing 184 interviews."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}