In partnership with organizations that cater for missing children, Instagram announced today it is rolling out Amber Alerts to users’ feeds. The feature is rolling out in the US at first but it will be available in 25 countries “in the coming weeks.”
Amber Alerts are very helpful in finding abducted children, and it is normally activated by law enforcement in a designated search area. Instagram says once the Alert is activated in a “designated search area”, it will appear on the Instagram feed of users within the area. The Meta-owned company says alerts will be “rare and specific to the search area” and they will include a photo of the missing child, description and location of the abduction and “any other available information that can be provided.”
Instagram says it uses a variety of signals to send Amber Alerts to users’ feeds, including location data and IP addresses. Users will be able to share alerts with friends so more people can see them.
In the “next couple of weeks,” Instagram says Amber Alerts will be fully available in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
Amber Alerts first came to Facebook in 2015. The Meta-owned company says the feature has helped in “hundreds of successful” child endangerment cases in the US and beyond.
Image: Instagram
