Armed groups use TikTok and Facebook to forcibly recruit minors in Colombia
Armed groups in Colombia reportedly use social media algorithms on TikTok and Facebook to recruit minors into their ranks, according to a study by Vivamos Humanos. Videos containing recruitment messages reach hundreds of thousands of users, with TikTok identified as the primary platform due to weak content restrictions and easy searchability of recruitment-related hashtags.
What happened
Armed groups including FARC dissidents, the ELN guerrilla, and Clan del Golfo use TikTok, Facebook, Telegram, Instagram and video game applications like Roblox to recruit minors in Colombia. A study by Vivamos Humanos and the Humanitarian Coordinator documented 40 cases with direct evidence on TikTok and identified 70 accounts presumed related to these criminal organizations based on comment interactions.
Recruitment videos on TikTok achieve 200,000 views and record more than 76,000 interactions. The videos appear in adolescents' feeds alongside memes, music and dance content, with comments from users asking how to join and whether the groups hire minors. TikTok was the only platform where openly accessible content related to recruitment dynamics was found, due to massive video distribution, few content restrictions, and ease of searching through hashtags and keywords related to armed groups.
Reported impact
The study identified that the most affected regions are conflict zones including the departments of Norte de Santander in the northeast and Putumayo, Nariño and Cauca in the southwest, with cases also occurring in Caribbean departments of Bolívar, Magdalena and Cesar. The Central State Major, commanded by Iván Mordisco, is the structure using this strategy most intensively.
Index analysis
TikTok became the principal tool for forced recruitment of minors because of the 'massive' dissemination of videos on the application, the 'few restrictions' on content, and the ease of searching through tags or keywords related to armed groups. The study identified grave structural shortcomings including the absence of reporting channels for these cases, and in many instances, even when content is reported, it 'continues to be reproduced two or even three times more.'
Governance controls
Facebook, Telegram, Instagram and Roblox were also used for recruitment but did not make recruitment content as openly accessible as TikTok due to higher content moderation or less searchable interfaces. The Humanitarian Coordinator coordinated the investigation with Vivamos Humanos to document these practices.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.