In nearly two decades of the AMBER alert system, more than 725 missing children have been recovered. Sometimes, all it takes to help solve a missing child case is for the right person to see the alert – and where can you possibly inform a bigger audience than on Facebook?

It’s with that in mind that Facebook has partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to make AMBER alerts a part of your News Feed.

These AMBER alerts will be distributed to News Feeds on a regional basis, and will include pertinent information like photographs of the child, names and descriptions, and any available info about the suspected abductor (including license plate numbers).

So, how many AMBER alerts will you see on your Facebook News Feed? Probably not a ton – as they will only be pushed to users who are in the relevant geographical area. In other words, only if the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement has determined that you could realistically be able to help.

“Law enforcement determines the range of the target area for each alert. The number of alerts people will see depends on how many alerts are issued in their area — some people may see a few each year and many people will likely get no alerts at all. The alerts will appear in News Feed, but will not trigger any notifications to a person’s phone,” says Facebook Trust and Safety Manager Emily Vacher.

The alerts will appear on both desktop and mobile.

Image via Facebook