TikTok is expanding its AMBER Alert system in the United States after a successful Texas pilot program, bringing missing children notifications to over 170 million Americans through their For You feeds. 

The social media platform has announced a partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to deliver time-sensitive information to users in affected geographical areas.

Image credit: TikTok

The Texas pilot, which ran from August to December 2024, generated over 20 million views of AMBER Alerts and drove 2.5 million visits to NCMEC’s website, according to TikTok’s announcement. 

Following these results, TikTok is now implementing the alerts across the country, allowing users within specific regions to receive notifications when an alert is issued locally.

Enhanced Support for Child Safety

As part of the initiative, TikTok is donating advertising credits to amplify NCMEC’s messaging through their official account @NCMEC. The platform has also enlisted Sarah Turney, a TikTok creator and missing children advocate, to raise awareness about the new effort.

“Every second counts when a child goes missing. By harnessing the reach and speed of a platform like TikTok, parents, caregivers, and communities nationwide can become powerful advocates in the urgent effort to locate missing children,” Gavin Portnoy, VP of Communications & Brand at NCMEC, said in the announcement.

Law enforcement officials see value in the expansion. Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley noted, “TikTok allows us to reach younger generations and an audience that might not otherwise see these alerts.”

The nationwide implementation represents an extension of TikTok’s ongoing safety efforts, including partnerships with organizations like NCMEC and developing in-app tools designed to protect users.

The company states that this initiative demonstrates how social platforms can contribute to community safety and information sharing. In addition to TikTok, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram have been displaying AMBER Alerts to users since 2015 and 2022, respectively.

Last August, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the social media platform of unlawfully collecting children’s data and impeding parental control over accounts. The DOJ alleged that TikTok’s practices amount to a “massive-scale” invasion of child privacy, violating laws requiring parental consent for data collection from users under 13.