Instagram will launch a new service over the coming weeks designed to help families locate missing children.
‘Amber alerts’ will notify users on their timeline as to when there is a child missing in their local area.
Key information, such as photos of the child, a description and where they have gone missing, will appear, which can be shared by users to help spread the word.
If users receive the alert then that means there is an active search underway for a missing child nearby.
Instagram will target people based on the list city on their profile, IP address and by using location services, if they are switched on.
The service will be fully available in 25 countries across the globe, including Scotland and the rest of the UK over the next couple of weeks.
Officials say that the service has been developed with help from a number of law enforcement bodies, including the National Crime Agency in the UK.
Amber alerts have been in use on Facebook since 2015 and have assisted authorities in a number of child endangerment cases in the US and around the world.
Michelle DeLaune, President and CEO at the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the US, said: “Instagram is a platform based on the power of photos, making it a perfect fit for the Amber alert programme.
“We know that photos are a critical tool in the search for missing children and by expanding the reach to the Instagram audience, we’ll be able to share photos of missing children with so many more people.”
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