{
  "id": 3017870,
  "title": "Colombian armed groups used Facebook, TikTok to recruit children, says NGO",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/colombian-armed-groups-used-facebook-tiktok-to-recruit-children-says-3017870",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T11:54:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/08/24/colombian-armed-groups-used-facebook-tiktok-to-recruit-children-says-ngo"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Facebook and TikTok of failing to stop armed groups in Colombia from recruiting children on their platforms. The NGO reported that armed groups used the social media sites to glorify their ranks and promote deceptive job offers to lure young recruits. Since 2021, approximately 1,500 children have been recruited by these groups, with almost half of the child recruits being Indigenous despite Indigenous people making up only about four percent of the population. Girls accounted for around 40 percent of child recruits and were particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.\n\nHRW detailed how social media posts often showcased armed group members flaunting cash, jewelry, and posed in training camps or listening to narcocorridos, a Mexican music genre that celebrates the exploits of drug traffickers. Comments sections frequently invited users to join the armed groups. HRW informed Meta, Facebook's parent company, and ByteDance, TikTok's owner, about the issue. Both companies removed the specific content but have yet to provide further details on their actions.\n\nHRW emphasized that dissident groups, primarily emerging from the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), were responsible for 74% of child recruitment cases between 2021 and 2025. The historic 2016 peace agreement ended decades of conflict with the FARC, but remaining armed groups still control large territories in Colombia's remote northeast and south. President Abelardo de la Espriella, newly inaugurated in 2025, pledged to combat armed groups and form a military alliance with the United States and Israel.",
  "summary": "Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the circulation of social media content by armed groups 'glorifies life in armed group ranks' and promotes 'deceptive job offers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "Facebook, TikTok promoted Colombian armed groups' content to recruit children: NGO",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/facebook-tiktok-promoted-colombian-armed-groups-content-to-recruit",
        "published": "2026-08-24T11:38:01.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Colombian armed groups used Facebook, TikTok to recruit children, says NGO",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/colombian-armed-groups-used-facebook-tiktok-to-recruit-children-says",
        "published": "2026-08-24T11:54:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "IOL",
        "title": "TikTok agrees to $400m settlement over illegal data collection from children",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/tiktok-agrees-to-400m-settlement-over-illegal-data-collection-from",
        "published": "2026-08-24T16:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}