Facebook to Push Amber Alerts to News Feeds

Facebook to Push Amber Alerts to News Feeds

Facebook collaborated with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for a new initiative, which will buzz 185 million Facebook’s U.S. users to help find and return missing children with the help of Amber Alerts.

[error]Amber Alerts are put out by law enforcement agencies to inform people about children who have been abducted and are at serious risk of death or injury. The people who get these alerts are asked to keep an eye out for the child or suspected abductor, and typically provide basic information, like a photo of the child and the license plate number of the car driven by the suspect.[/error]

Facebook will facilitate the Amber system by tracking the geographical location of its users and will aim the messages at people in specific cities or even neighborhoods, depending on what law enforcement requests.

[blockquote cite=”Vacher, an FBI agent & specialized in child abduction and exploitation cases “] If you see an Amber Alert delivered, it means you are actually in a position to be able to help. The best chance of finding a child comes when the right information gets to the people at the right time.
[/blockquote]

It will make the alerts the second post in the news feed of targeted users so they can’t miss it. And Facebook will encourage recipients to spread the word further to some or all of their friends on the service.

John Ryan, chief executive of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that they are also in talks with Twitter about doing something similar.