An Garda Síochána and Facebook have teamed up to ensure that every Facebook user in Ireland will receive an alert when a child goes missing and is believed to be in serious danger.
Emily Vacher, Facebook's Director of Trust and Safety, spoke to RTÉ's News at One about child rescue alerts on social media platforms.
How will the system work?
Emily Vacher: "When the gardaí issue a child rescue alert, they will immediately contact us. We have a 24-hour global operations centre that is ready to take the information in. We will prepare the alerts and will send it to everybody who uses Facebook in Ireland. There have only been six CRI (Child Rescue Ireland) alerts in the history of the programme, so it’s only when the police decide that all the criteria has been met, then they’ll let us know and we’ll push the alert."
Is it possible to zone it in to a particular area?
Emily Vacher: "It's at the discretion of the police. So they’ll look at the particular case that they are working. If there's a reason for them to target one area over another, they just need to let us at Facebook know and we're able to do that."
What kind of information will be shared?
Emily Vacher: "We share the critical information that will help the public in finding the child. So, that includes things like a picture of the missing child, a clothing description, if a vehicle was involved – the make, the model, the colour, the licence tag - anything that the public can use just keeping their eyes and ears open in their own community that may be that clue that can help bring the child home."
How will people receive the information?
Emily Vacher: "It won't be a special alert. It will just be in the middle of their newsfeed. So, whether they are looking at their mobile devices or on their desktop computer, they'll see the alert the next time they use Facebook."
Why isn't the alert sent directly to someone's mobile?
Emily Vacher: "There are many systems, SMS or through the news, so many systems. We just didn’t want to overwhelm people by getting too many breaking news alerts. We looked at all the systems that were in place now and our system is really designed to complement that. We don’t want people to be overloaded by alerts but we want the information there when they are using their Facebook newsfeed."
How many users does Facebook have in Ireland?
Emily Vacher: "There are about 2.8m people in Ireland but this won’t be limited to just people who live here in Ireland. If you’re visiting on business or if you’re visiting on pleasure and you are a Facebook user, you may also be able to see this alert."
Is this system in use in other countries?
Emily Vacher: "Yes, today Ireland becomes the 18th country to sign on to the Facebook missing child alert programme. We hope to extend that to the rest of the world. But Ireland is definitely an early adopter; the CRI alert has been in existence since May of 2012 already. Really what we’ve done today is just enhanced that."
