TikTok is partnering with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to bring real-time Amber Alerts directly to users’ on their ‘For You’ page. This will be US-only for now.
In my opinion, this is a great move to give meaning to an app the US government could still be banning in a few weeks.
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The new feature will work much like every other Amber Alert mechanism. When activated by law enforcement, and alert will appear on your For You page if you are in the designated search area – and yes, that confirms TikTok is tracking your location btw. A spokesperson confirmed that TikTok identifies whether you are within a specific search range through your device’s IP address.
The Amber Alert will include all of the information that is available in standard Amber Alerts, such as the child’s photo, description, last known location, and any other critical information that could aid in the search.
TikTok says the nationwide launch follows a pilot in Texas, where Amber Alerts on TikTok were viewed over 20 million times, and led to 2.5 million visits to NCMEC’s website between August and December 2024. TikTok also says it will be donating advertising credits to amplify NCMEC’s messaging on TikTok around missing children and youth safety information.
“Every second counts when a child goes missing,” said Gavin Portnoy, Vice President of Communications & Brand at NCMEC, in a press release. “By harnessing the reach and speed of a platform like TikTok, parents, caregivers, and communities nationwide can become powerful advocates in the urgent effort to locate missing children.”