In 1996, the AMBER Alert System was launched when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters joined hands with local police to aid in locating abducted children. Since 2015, AMBER Alerts on Facebook alone have helped with numerous child endangerment cases.
Now, the AMBER Alert feature has come to Instagram as well. It has been developed in partnership with organizations including 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.
As these alerts are specific to the search areas, the latest update will show an AMBER Alert in your Instagram feed when activated by law enforcement only if you are in the designated search area. The alert will display details about the child, the location of the abduction, and other important details so that the search efforts can be amplified.
The President and CEO for NCMEC Michelle DeLaune stated:
Instagram is a platform based on the power of photos, making it a perfect fit for the AMBER Alert program. We know that photos are a critical tool in the search for missing children and by expanding the reach to the Instagram audience, we’ll be able to share photos of missing children with so many more people.
AMBER Alerts are now available on Instagram, with full availability coming soon in 25 countries, namely 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.
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