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Instagram said Wednesday it launched Amber Alerts to share notifications of missing children after growing criticism that the social media platform is harming children.

Meta Trust and Security Director Emily Vacher said the feature will be fully rolled out in 25 countries in the coming weeks. Meta operates Instagram and Facebook, which previously made Amber Alerts available on its service. Alerts, sanctioned by law enforcement, are circulated through a variety of communications, including television broadcasts.

“These alerts are rare and are search domain specific. If you get one, there is an active search for a missing child nearby,” Ms. Vacher said on Instagram’s blog. ) we use a variety of signals, including your location services.”

Criticism of Instagram’s endangerment of children has come from concerned parents and lawmakers. Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn criticized Instagram for its “repeated failures to protect children’s privacy” in December 2021.

On Facebook, Ms. Blackburn also cited human trafficking and issues that increase teenage girls’ suicide risk as issues she’s examining in her study as part of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on consumer protection, product safety, and data security. .

This subcommittee questioned Instagram head Adam Mosseri in December. Before attending the convention, Mr. Mosseri announced plans to pause development of “Instagram Kids”, which is intended to be a version of the platform for kids under 13.

While Congress debated proposals that would affect the operations of Meta and Instagram through its antitrust, privacy and speech policy, Instagram wooed supporters for its new efforts in child protection.

Michelle DeLaune, CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, praised Instagram as a good place to share notifications of missing children.