TikTok, one of the most popular social media aap among teenagers in the United States, has announced a new feature, Amber Alerts, to users’ For You feed. Through this feature, TikTok will be able to identify whether users are within a specific search through their device’s IP address. This new feature has been introduced keeping in view the platform’s massive teenage users who are more likely to identify these alerts. This initiative by TikTok is taken in collaboration with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, similar to Facebook and Instagram, which have been providing Amber Alerts to their users since 2016 and 2022, respectively.
Amber Alert, short for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, is rooted in the Amber Hagerman case. In 1996, Amber got lost in downtown Arlinton, Texas and after four days her mutilated body was found near her home. From there, Broadcasters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area began collaborating with law enforcement to develop an early warning system for abducted children. Today the Amber Alert system is used in all 50 states of America.
TikTok initiated this feature from a pilot project in Texas. Amber Alerts on TikTok were viewed 20 million times, which led to 2.5 million visits to NCMEC’s website between August and December 2024. Now, with this feature’s country-wide launch, the alert will include standard Amber Alert information, including the missing child’s photo, bio, and last known location.
As of December 2024, 1,221 children have been successfully recovered through the Amber Alert system in the US. Given TikTok’s popularity and view time in the US, the number of rescued children is expected to increase with the launch of Amber Alert on TikTok. Notably, the future of this newly launched feature is uncertain due to a potential ban on April 5 if the social media platform is not sold to non-Chinese. If the ban takes effect, the Amber Alert system could lose a powerful platform to rescue missing children.
