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Instagram’s Amber Alert Feature Is Coming To The UAE

Each alert will include a picture and description of the missing child, as well as the location where the child was last seen.

Published

4 years ago

June 10, 2022

David Morelo

Instagram

Social media networks like Instagram receive a lot of criticism for their negative influence on their users and society at large. But just like most things humans have created, they can be used for both good and bad.

Instagram’s Amber Alert feature, whose purpose is to make the site’s users aware of missing or abducted children from their local area, is a shining example of how social media network can benefit not just their users but even those who avoid them like the plague.

The feature first launched on Facebook back in 2015, and it quickly became a major success. Now, this incredibly useful feature is coming to 25 countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

Here’s a complete list of all the countries where Amber Alerts will soon launch: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and the United Arab Emirates.

instagram amber alerts feature

“We know that the chances of finding a missing child increase when more people are on the lookout, especially in the first few hours,” says Emily Vacher, Director of Trust and Safety at Meta. “With this update, if an AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement and you are in the designated search area, the alert will now appear in your Instagram feed.”

Also Read: How To Permanently Delete Your Instagram Account

Each alert will include a picture and description of the missing child, as well as the location where the child was last seen. With a simple tap, Instagram users will be able to contact law enforcement to share what they know with them.

The feature has already been used to help rescue at least two children. In 2016 an anesthesia technician at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee helped save a four-year-old girl who was abducted in Florida. In 2020, 11-year-old Charlotte Moccia from Massachusetts was rescued after Amanda Disley and her husband saw an Amber Alert on Facebook.

Related Topics:Instagram United Arab Emirates

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Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.