Instagram to help find missing children; launches AMBER Alerts

Instagram has launched AMBER Alerts on its platform to help find missing children. The feature will be fully available in 25 countries in the coming weeks. Check all details here.

Instagram launches AMBER Alerts to help find missing children. (Instagram)

Instagram will now help people find missing children. The social media platform has brought AMBER alerts on its platform using which people will be able to see and share notices of missing children in their area. As per the information provided by Instagram, AMBER Alerts rolled out on June 1, Wednesday and will be fully available in 25 countries in the coming weeks. This feature was developed in partnership with organizations like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, the National Crime Agency in the UK, the Attorney General's Office in Mexico, the Australian 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 important details about the child such as a photo, description, location of the abduction and any other available information that can be provided. People can also share the alert with friends to further spread the word.

It can be noted that these alerts are rare and specific to the search area. If you get one, it means there is an active search for a missing child nearby. In order to know who to show these alerts to, Instagram uses a variety of signals, including the city you list on your profile, your IP address and location services (if you have it turned on).

AMBER Alerts will be fully available in the next couple of weeks in 25 countries: 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. The social media application is working to expand and bring them to more countries.

It can be known that AMBER Alerts was launched on Facebook in 2015. Since then, the alerts have assisted in hundreds of successful child endangerment cases in the US and around the world, as per the information provided by Instagram.