Meta, the parent company of Instagram, announced that it has launched a feature that can help users to search for missing children. This feature is called Amber Alerts, a term used for emergency alerts related to child abductions.
The Amber Alerts feature was previously available on Facebook. Meta claims this feature has helped find hundreds of missing children since its introduction in 2015.
The Amber Alerts feature on Instagram was developed in partnership with organizations such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the United States and the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
"We know that the chances of finding a missing child increase when more people are alert, especially in the first few hours," Instagram said on its official blog.
"With this update, if Amber Alerts is activated by law enforcement and you are in the specified search area, the alert will now appear in your Instagram feed," he continued.
Amber Alerts will also be specific to the search area, meaning if the user accepts it, it indicates that a missing child search is underway nearby.
Instagram says it will use information such as the city the user registered in the profile, the user's IP address and location service (if enabled) to determine whether or not this feature should be sent to the user.
"The alert will include important details about the child such as photo, description, location of the abduction and other available information that can be provided. People can also share the alert with friends to spread the word further," explained Instagram.
This feature will be rolled out gradually to 25 countries including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and USA.
Unfortunately, Indonesia itself has not been included in the list. But Instagram promises to work towards bringing the feature to more countries in the future.