TikTok has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to send Amber Alerts, the social media network announced Thursday. The real-time alerts will be pushed to users’ feeds in the missing child’s designated search area after law enforcement first issues them.

The alerts contain a photo of the missing child, a description, the last location where the child was known to be and any other relevant details that could help with the search.

What You Need To Know

  • TikTok has partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to send Amber Alerts, the social media network announced Thursday

  • The real-time alerts will be pushed to users’ feeds in the missing child’s designated search area after law enforcement first issues them

  • The alerts contain a photo of the missing child, a description, the last location where the child was known to be and any other relevant details that could help with the search

  • TikTok first piloted Amber Alerts in Texas last year

The company says the Amber Alerts can help increase awareness about children who go missing in their local communities among its 170 million American users.

TikTok first piloted Amber Alerts in Texas last year. It said the alerts were viewed at least 20 million times on the platform and prompted 2.5 million visits to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website from August to December 2024.

According to the Department of Justice, 1,221 children have been successfully recovered through the Amber Alert system through December 2024. The system was first created in 1996 when broadcasters in Dallas partnered with local police to create early warnings to find abducted children. It is named for Amber Hagerman, who was 9 years old when she was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Texas and murdered. 

The nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says it helped law enforcement, families and child welfare with nearly 29,000 missing children reports in 2023, 88% of whom were recovered. The most common missing child cases are runaways and family abductions. 

TikTok said it will promote the new initiative on its platform with missing child advocate and TikTok creator Sarah Turney. The influencer with 1.1 million followers hosts the Voices for Justice podcast, which she started after her teenage sister Alissa went missing.