The Aporia · Colombian drug gangs recruiting children through social media to pilot explosive drones: Report

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 AI on 2026-08-25, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

Story summary

In Colombia, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024 alone, according to the country's Human Rights Defenders' Office. These children are being trained for dangerous roles, including piloting drones loaded with explosives. Armed groups, including drug gangs and rebel groups, are using social media to lure kids as they expand their control over rural areas where they profit from various illicit activities. This is a significant increase in child recruitment, which had declined after the country's 2016 peace agreement with the FARC helped reduce violence. However, smaller rebel factions and criminal organizations have taken advantage of this weakness to recruit more children. Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, warns that weak protection systems and social media platforms are making recruitment easier, calling on these companies to make it easier for users to report suspicious content and preserve evidence that could help prosecutors.

Written for “Colombian Explosive Drone Trafficking” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

📰 Colombian Explosive Drone Trafficking

Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Prisha Patnaik

80 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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“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.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-25

🔮 It also called on social media companies to make it easier for users to report recruitment content and preserve evidence that could help prosecutors.

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Colombian drug gangs recruiting children through social media to pilot explosive drones: Report · assertive framing

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

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. asserted

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. asserted

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

Colombian drug gangs recruiting children through social media to pilot explosive drones: Report

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