Social media website Facebook has unveiled a service that will allow users across Canada to share information to help locate missing children.

Called Amber Alert, the posts will appear on Facebook news feeds in the first hours after a child has gone missing, and will be available to users in the designated search area determined by local law enforcement officials.

The alerts will include a photograph and description of the missing child and other information that is available, for instance a picture of a suspect. They will be shareable across the platform.

“We know that when a child is abducted, the most valuable thing we can do is get information out to the public as fast as possible,” said Jordan Banks, global head of vertical strategy and managing director at Facebook Canada, in a statement.

The system was unveiled Monday morning in Ottawa to coincide with Missing Children’s Day.

“When a child disappears, every second counts,” said Pina Arcamone, director general of the Missing Children’s Network, in a statement.

“Facebook’s geo-targeted alerts will give Amber Alerts an expanded social media and Internet presence, thus greatly enhancing our abilities to quickly recover the child.”

Facebook said the alert system was inspired by past examples of people using the site to help locate missing children. For example, a newborn baby was returned to her parents in Trois-Rivières, Que., in 2014 after local people saw a photo of a suspect online and got involved.

In January, Facebook launched an Amber Alert service in the U.S. in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The alerts appeared on users’ news feeds, could be shared, and included photos of the missing child and other information related to the case.

The company said that since its launch, the U.S. system has helped recover one missing child safely.

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