Emerging Threat of Digital Recruitment in Latin America
“Do they pay well?” asked Pedro, a Colombian teenager from the southwest region of the country, in the comments section of a Facebook video showcasing another boy being paid for harvesting coca leaves. A member of a criminal group known as the Dagoberto Ramos Front responded, “Message me privately.” This incident illustrates how Pedro transitioned from a casual online observer to a participant in an armed organisation within a matter of weeks. Yiner Quiguantar, a young indigenous leader dedicated to rescuing children from such groups, recounts this alarming story, noting that his work in this area is becoming increasingly demanding.
Official statistics and testimonies gathered by social researchers illustrate that social media has transformed into a powerful recruitment tool for criminal organisations targeting ever younger audiences across Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador. In Colombia, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace estimates that by 2025, 44% of youths recruited by armed groups were approached via digital platforms. Furthermore, the country’s Ombudsman has documented 1,173 cases of minor recruitment between 2024 and July 31, 2026, cautioning about significant underreporting.
Rising Trends in Recruitment via Social Media
In Ecuador, a survey conducted by the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organised Crime revealed that 27% of young respondents joined gangs after being contacted through social media. While the specific ratio of youth recruited by cartels via these platforms remains uncertain in Mexico, authorities have shut down hundreds of accounts following the discovery of a training and extermination camp linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Rancho Izaguirre, where cremation ovens were found.
This incident highlighted the extent of digital recruitment in Mexico, where testimonies from survivors and law enforcement indicate that a cell associated with the camp utilised social media profiles to disseminate false job offers, luring individuals to bus terminals for transportation to their facilities. What measures have digital platforms taken in response to this evolving threat? A collaborative investigation dubbed the Recruiting Algorithm, coordinated by the Latin American Centre for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) alongside Cuestión Pública (Colombia), Quinto Elemento Lab (Mexico), and Indómita Media (Ecuador), reveals that the platforms’ primary strategy has been to resist governmental pressure to enforce proactive measures.
Platform Responses and Limitations
Various civil society organisations, governmental bodies, and experts have documented the utilisation of platforms such as TikTok and Facebook for recruitment. Occasionally, these platforms have collaborated with authorities to remove profiles and content aimed at recruiting minors. However, a spokesperson for TikTok, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, denied the existence of any evidence supporting the claim that recruitment of adolescents occurs on their platforms. “We have not identified specific patterns indicating that these groups are directly targeting minors,” the spokesperson stated.
Meanwhile, Meta acknowledged that it has tested artificial intelligence models to identify “patterns of content linked to recruitment,” according to a report published by the company in 2026. In a statement sent to this journalistic alliance, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, asserted, “Recruitment of minors by Dangerous Organisations or Criminal and Terrorist groups is prohibited on our platforms. We remove content and accounts that violate our policy regarding Dangerous Organisations and Individuals, and we continue to invest in technology and specialised teams to proactively detect such activities. We also maintain ongoing collaboration with regional authorities, responding to valid legal requests and reporting apparent cases of child exploitation to the appropriate authorities.”
Challenges in Legislative Action
Despite expressing concern over this issue, technology giants have lobbied legislators in various countries to avoid being mandated to take proactive measures against harmful content. For instance, in Colombia, the lobbying efforts of tech platforms resulted in the removal of a provision from a draft law on recruitment that would have imposed certain obligations on them. In Ecuador, a law aimed at intensifying penalties for recruitment obliges tech firms to remove content as directed by authorities but does not require preventive monitoring.
In Mexico, numerous legislative proposals concerning the recruitment of minors have been presented in the national Congress, yet none have been enacted. While several states have passed laws aiming to penalise this practice, none address the role of digital platforms in the recruitment process or impose obligations on them.
The Complexity of Digital Recruitment Processes
Experts interviewed for this investigation argue that without preventive actions like these, it will be impossible to stop organised crime from exploiting digital platforms for recruitment. As Quiguantar notes, “While the networks may restrict accounts, they inevitably return to operation after some time.”
Digital recruitment is a gradual process that requires time and exposure. Mathew Charles, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rosario in Bogotá and director of the Mi Historia Foundation, which has extensively studied the role of children in the Colombian conflict, identifies three stages in the digital recruitment process: exposure, interaction, and activation. During the exposure phase, young individuals encounter content on social media. The interaction phase occurs when they engage with criminal accounts, often leading them to the final stage: physical recruitment into organised crime.
Content Strategies and the Role of Music
Exposure can happen inadvertently, such as when searching for trending songs on TikTok or simply through the algorithm displaying a video. Quiguantar has observed this phenomenon within his own family; one day, a nephew searched for a song to dance with his sister, only to be shown a video featuring a young girl affiliated with the FARC dissidence. “The first thing that pops up is a young girl dancing,” he recalls.
Music often serves as a gateway to these types of content. In response to an information request, the Colombian Presidency confirmed to Cuestión Pública and CLIP that organised crime selects artists to perform concerts in areas under their control, subsequently popularising their music to ensure its reach on TikTok. They create remixes based on regional artists’ compositions, ultimately aiming to viralise content through the platform.
Influence of Emojis and Social Dynamics
In Ecuador, similar patterns are observed. Criminal groups operate recording studios for their artists. The music of the singer New Jerson has circulated in TikTok videos linked to the criminal group Los Choneros. During a concert in May 2026 in Isla Trinitaria, a region heavily influenced by gangs, attendees reportedly displayed firearms without hesitation. “They don’t prohibit taking photos or anything like that. I think they do it to amplify what happens there,” claims Andrés, a young individual familiar with the local dynamics. Jerson Saldarriaga, the artist, was arrested in May 2026 during an operation that uncovered drugs and stolen televisions associated with the gang. He faces charges of illicit association, although he maintains his innocence, and the case is currently in trial.
The significance of emojis cannot be understated. Each criminal group identifies itself with specific icons, and entering these symbols into the platform’s search bar can lead to relevant content. Emojis also help evade content moderation while remaining visible to targeted youth. Conversely, searching for the name of an armed group yields no results.
Understanding the Recruitment Cycle
The second stage, interaction, frequently begins when a young person likes or comments on a video. “When a kid likes a band’s video, the individual managing that account receives a notification and has the freedom to send a direct message,” explains Ecuadorian anthropologist Gabriel Brito, who has researched digital recruitment in his country. In some instances, exchanges are more explicit, with gangs offering employment opportunities in their posts. Often, it is the young individuals themselves who express their willingness to work via private messages or publicly. “They even post photos with friends and their group, saying, ‘Here are three for you,’” Brito recounts.
As the platform recognises users inclined to consume and interact with such content, job offers begin to emerge organically: “It becomes akin to a LinkedIn for organised crime, as the algorithm starts showcasing job opportunities,” he explains. In Mexico, law enforcement indicated to Quinto Elemento Lab that most young recruits fall victim to false job offers.
Socioeconomic Factors Driving Recruitment
These offers exploit the precarious circumstances and needs of these children and their families, as well as their desire for recognition and community. When not promising money or employment, they often promote an aspirational lifestyle that, according to Sergeant Lucía Medina of the Ecuadorian police, fosters an illusion in young people of potential wealth, motorbikes, and a sense of power.
The allure is even more pronounced for girls, who are often depicted in social media wearing uniforms, wielding weapons, or within contexts of apparent empowerment and freedom. This portrayal reinforces patriarchal stereotypes of women as “prizes” or “bait” amidst conflict, as noted in a report by the Colombian organisation Vivamos Humanos.
Demand for Continuous Recruitment
The activation phase, the final stage of the recruitment process, is crucial for criminal organisations, which require a steady influx of new members to maintain their operational capacity. A 2022 study published in the journal Science noted that in Mexico, “cartels must recruit between 350 and 370 individuals daily to avoid collapse due to cumulative losses.” A similar situation exists in Colombia, where a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights states that “permanent recruitment responds to a replacement need: minors die in combat.”