Facebook will show amber alerts to aid in the rescue of abducted children.
On Tuesday, Facebook implemented their new partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC. The social networking company will display amber alerts on the newsfeeds of users. Both mobile and desktop versions of the social network will show the amber alerts.
Whenever local law enforcement and the NCMEC send out an amber alert, Facebook will also post that alert on newsfeeds in that local area. Facebook hopes to help in the recovery of missing children, and has had users participate in the recovery of missing children in the past. For instance, last year an 11-year-old girl was found when a motel owner recognized her from a picture he saw on Facebook regarding the missing child.
The social network has a potential of widening the awareness of amber alerts, and aid in the search for missing children because of the ability to share the amber alerts onto others' newsfeeds. Though amber alerts will be sent out to local and potential areas where the missing child may be located, the nature of social media allows for greater spread.
The National Journal reports that the Facebook cooperation with amber alerts will affect only U.S. users, though there is talk to extend such a service to other nations. Users will most likely receive only a few amber alerts a year.
"When people receive these alerts on their phones, we want them to know that this is very rare and they're in a position to be able to help," Emily Vacher of Facebook told ABC News in an interview.
Facebook's amber alert posts will contain a picture of the child and the vehicle description of the suspected abductor. The posts will have links that allow for viewing more information about the missing child.
Amber alerts have aided in the rescue of more than 700 children in the past 19 years.
