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· collected 2026-08-25 · by Prisha Patnaik
Human Rights Watch published a report Monday stating that Colombian drug gangs and rebel groups are recruiting children through social media to pilot drones loaded with explosives. According to the report, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups in Colombia since 2021, with 625 cases reported this year alone. The watchdog found that social media platforms, including Meta and TikTok, may be inadvertently promoting content that encourages children to join armed groups due to their algorithms. Armed groups are increasingly using drones equipped with explosives to attack rival groups, police, and military bases, resulting in 121 drone attacks so far this year, killing 21 people and injuring 145.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Colombian drug gangs are recruiting children through social media to pilot explosive drones and participate in other dangerous activities, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published on Monday. The rights watchdog warned that weak protection systems and social media platforms make it easier for armed groups to lure children into their ranks. Since 2021, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups in Colombia, with 625 cases reported in 2024 alone. This marks a rise in child recruitment after it had declined following the country's 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said that armed groups are using social media to recruit children as they expand their control over rural areas where they profit from drug trafficking, extortion, and illegal mining. Human Rights Watch is calling on social media companies to make it easier for users to report recruitment content and preserve evidence that could help prosecutors.
Written for “Colombian Child Soldier Recruitment” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
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Leaning score -0.65 for article 2208 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-08-27
Colombian drug gangs and rebel groups are increasingly recruiting children and training them for dangerous roles, including piloting drones loaded with explosives, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Monday.
asserted
Watch → recruit → report
The rights watchdog said armed groups were using social media to lure children as they expanded their control over rural areas where they profit from drug trafficking, extortion and illegal mining.
asserted
they → say → trafficking
“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity,” Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch told news agency AP, warning that weak protection systems and social media platforms were making recruitment easier.
asserted
recruitment → recruit → AP
Child recruitment is rising again
asserted
recruitment → rise → ?
At least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups in Colombia since 2021, according to the country’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office.
uncertain
children → recruit → Office
Of those cases, 625 were reported in 2024 alone.
asserted
625 → report → 2024
Child recruitment had declined after Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, helped reduce violence in several parts of the country.
asserted
agreement → decline → country
But recruitment has risen again as smaller rebel factions and criminal organisations have fought to seize control of rural territories abandoned by FARC fighters.
asserted
factions → rise → fighters
Armed groups have historically used children as messengers, cooks and intelligence gatherers, and sometimes forced them to engage with rival groups.
asserted
groups → use → groups
Girls have also faced sexual abuse by commanders.
asserted
Girls → face → commanders
But HRW said the role of recruited children was changing as armed groups increasingly turned to drones equipped with explosives.
asserted
groups → say → explosives
The drones have been used to attack rival groups as well as police and military bases.
asserted
drones → use → groups
HRW said it had verified social media videos showing children operating explosive-laden drones and had interviewed family protection officers who work with children who escaped or were demobilised from armed groups.
asserted
who → say → groups
Some children who later left the groups said commanders had presented operating drones as a game rather than as participation in armed combat, the report said.
asserted
report → leave → combat
The scale of drone attacks has also grown.
asserted
scale → grow → attacks
Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office recorded 121 drone attacks by armed groups in the first five months of this year, killing 21 people and injuring 145.
asserted
Office → record → 145
Social media becomes a recruitment tool
HRW identified dozens of social media accounts that portrayed life with rebel groups in a positive light, an issue that the United Nations has also previously raised.
asserted
Nations → become → that
The watchdog said algorithms on platforms including Meta and TikTok appeared in some cases to promote content that encouraged children to join armed groups.
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that → say → groups
Meta and TikTok told HRW that their platforms prohibit content promoting violence and said they had removed accounts flagged by the organisation.
asserted
they → tell → organisation
The FARC dissident faction led by commander Ivan Mordisco was involved in most of the child-recruitment cases identified by HRW, with particularly heavy recruitment reported in Colombia’s Cauca region.
asserted
recruitment → lead → region
Nearly half of the child-recruitment cases recorded by Colombian authorities since 2021 involved Indigenous children, even though Indigenous people account for only about 4% of the country’s population.
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people → record → population
Girls represented 40% of all recruited children.
asserted
Girls → represent → children
HRW urged the Colombian government to devote more resources to prosecuting those who recruit children and strengthen protection systems in vulnerable rural areas.
asserted
who → urge → areas
It also called on social media companies to make it easier for users to report recruitment content and preserve evidence that could help prosecutors.
uncertain
that → call → prosecutors
