If law enforcement authorities have their way, Facebook users soon will use the site for more than sending messages to friends and playing Farmville.
Those users also can now help find a missing child.to
Amber Alerts will be distributed on Facebook in an effort to spread the word faster about missing children, law enforcement and Facebook officials announced Wednesday.
Fifty-three Facebook pages — one for each state, the District, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — have been set to post the alerts. When a state issues an alert for a missing child, people who are fans of that states Amber Alert page will be notified. Authorities hope people who see the messages will share the news on their own Facebook pages.
“They can share that information with their friends in a way that immediately spreads the word that a child needs our help,” said Chris Sonderby, Facebook’s lead security and investigations counsel and a former federal prosecutor.
Allowing Facebook’s 500 million users to opt-in to receive the alerts is an “important extension of the national Amber Alert program,” said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Full story: Facebook partners with agencies on Amber Alerts | Emily Babay | Crime & Punishment | Washington Examiner