In 1996, the Dallas-Fort Worth broadcaster teamed up with local police to launch the AMBER alert system to assist in finding abducted children. AMBER alerts on Facebook alone have helped with many cases of endangering children since 2015. Now, the AMBER alert feature is coming to Instagram too.
It was developed in conjunction with organizations including the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, the UK National Crime Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico, the Australian Federal Police and others.
Since these alerts are for search areas, the latest update will show AMBER alerts on users’ Instagram when law enforcement activates, provided the user is within the designated search area. The alert will reveal details about the child, the location of the abduction and other important details to expand the search effort.
Michelle DeLaune, President and CEO of NCMEC, said: “Instagram is a platform based on the power of the photo, which makes it a perfect fit for the AMBER Alert Program. We know that photos are an important tool in finding missing children, and by expanding Instagram’s audience, we will be able to follow More people who share photos of missing children.”
AMBER Alerts are currently available on Instagram and will soon be fully available in 25 countries and territories. The list of the 25 countries and regions is as follows: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, South Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, China Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and the United States.