Missing person notices, which once appeared on milk cartons, will now feature on Facebook as police move with the times to ensure as many Australians as possible are forced to see strategic child abduction alerts.
Police in all states and territories from Thursday will supply information about potential abductions to the social media giant in time-critical search situations.
The Amber alert will then pop up in a user’s news feed if Facebook knows they are within 160 kilometres of the search zone.
“This is another tool in the toolbox for law enforcement,” Emily Vacher from Facebook’s trust and safety team told reporters this week.
“But it’s a critically important one and it leads to kids coming home.”
The post will show up as the second item in the news feed and remain there for 24 hours – unless the child is located.
It will contain a photograph if one is available, contact number, link to a police missing person poster and a “share” button. Users won’t be able to comment or react, however.
“We don’t want people leaving tips in a place that might not be monitored 24/7 by the police,” Ms Vacher said.
Facebook says it noticed users turning online in times of crisis to connect with friends and family and believes it’s merely facilitating the process.
To receive the alerts, the company will need to be confident a user is in the search zone and says if it’s unsure, it won’t send them.
“It’s not about the quantity of people that get this alert, it’s about the quality,” Ms Vacher said.