Facebook will now push AMBER alerts to user News Feeds when children go missing in their area. The partnership between Facebook and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was announced on Tuesday morning. Each alert will include a photograph and other details, and will be updated as new information becomes available in each individual case. Police will set the targeted geographical area where the AMBER alerts will appear and then depend on users to share them with their friends.
"In 2014, an 11-year-old girl was safely recovered after a motel owner recognized her from an AMBER Alert that a friend had shared on Facebook," Emily Vacher, trust and safety manager at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. "It’s amazing word-of-mouth efforts like this that inspired us to develop a more systematic way to help find missing children on Facebook."
IN-DEPTH
- 20-Day-Old Baby Reunited With Mother After Carjacking
- 'Like' This: Can Facebook Assess Your Personality?
- Introducing AMBER Alerts on Facebook (Facebook)