Instagram releases AMBER Alerts to help find missing children

Instagram will now help people to find missing children. The social media platform has launched AMBER alerts on its platform, whereby people will be able to view and share missing child notices in their area. According to information provided by Instagram, AMBER Alerts launched on Wednesday, June 1, and in the coming weeks, it will be fully available in 25 countries. This feature was developed in partnership with organizations such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the National Crime Agency in the UK, the Office of the Attorney General in Mexico, Federal Police and more.

"We know that the chances of finding a missing child increase when more people are on the lookout, especially in the first few hours. With this update, if an AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement and you are in the designated search area, the alert will now appear in your Instagram feed," Instagram informed.

The alert will include essential details about the child, like a photo, a description, the location of the abduction, and any other information available that can be provided. People will be able to share the alert with friends to spread the word.

It should be noted that these alerts are rare and specific to the search area. If you get one, there is an active search for a missing child nearby. To learn who to show these alerts to, Instagram uses various signals, including the city you list in your profile, your IP address, and location services (if you have them turned on).

AMBER Alerts will be fully available in the next two weeks in 25 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The social networking app is working on expanding and bringing them to more countries.

You can tell that AMBER Alerts launched on Facebook in 2015. Since then, the alerts have helped hundreds of successful child endangerment cases in the US and around the world, according to information provided by Instagram.