Report: Facebook and TikTok amplified content from armed groups to recruit children in Colombia
Armed groups use children primarily to fight, gather intelligence, and operate drones, according to the HRW report.
A cell phone with social media apps, such as TikTok, Instagram, X, and Snapchat, among others (File photo)
The NGO Human Rights Watch reported on Monday that social media platforms Facebook and TikTok fail to detect, remove, and prevent the spread of content produced by armed groups in Colombia to recruit minors and "their algorithms even appear to promote it."
Over six decades of armed conflict, guerrilla groups and drug traffickers have recruited poor children and adolescents into their ranks, but in recent years the use of these popular platforms has "contributed to a dramatic increase in child recruitment," according to an investigation by the international organization.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) drew attention to the spread on social media of posts that "glorified life in the armed forces" and promoted "deceptive job offers" that have contributed to the recruitment of at least 1,500 minors in Colombia since 2021.
Armed groups use children primarily to fight, gather intelligence, and operate drones, according to the report.
"Nearly half" of those affected by this offense, considered a war crime, are indigenous.
And girls, who account for 40% of the cases, are exposed to sexual violence.
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Criminals flaunt wads of cash and jewelry
HRW documented posts in which criminals flaunt wads of cash and jewelry. In others, they appear in camps or listening to narcocorridos, Mexican-style songs that glorify the mafia.
Some users ask in the comments how they can join organizations such as the Clan del Golfo cartel or guerrilla groups like the ELN and FARC dissidents who rejected the 2016 peace agreement.
The latter are responsible for 74% of the cases, according to the report.
A strategy to combat the recruitment of minors
"Both stated that they removed the content from armed groups that we flagged," HRW said.
Meta assured HRW that it "constantly strives to refine" its strategy to combat the recruitment of minors, according to the report.
Meanwhile, ByteDance maintained that it "proactively prevents illegal armed groups and organized criminal groups from using" the platform for those purposes.
President Abelardo de la Espriella, who has been in office for less than a month, is promoting a military offensive to combat them with the help of the United States and Israel.
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