Trump can use FEMA to direct message all US cellphones?

[UNCjigga]

Given his Twitter history and penchant for fake news, how would anyone in their right mind sign off on this?

http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...system-allowing-trump-to-send-emergency-alert

FEMA to test system allowing Trump to send emergency alerts

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is testing a new system next week that allows President Trump to send messages directly to U.S. cellphones.

All major wireless firms and more than 100 mobile carriers are participating in the new Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) program that allows for presidential alerts, FEMA wrote in a Thursday statement.
...
Despite Trump's frequent use of Twitter as a method of communicating, experts told NBC News on Friday that Trump would not overuse the "Presidential Alert" system.

"If you separate this from the politics and personality of any individual president then this is a great idea and an amazing use of technology to reach everybody if they're in harms way," said Karen North, director of the Annenberg Digital Social Media program at the University of Southern California.

 

[sandorski]

Better have a strict protocol, because Trump.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Meh. I assume by "Trump" they mean if a state of emergency is declared. Not something "Trumpian."

This seems like a shitty article.


https://mashable.com/article/trump-emergency-alert-text-message/#94.fO4i7jgqw

First of all, it's worth noting that the president is just another authority that has access. Hundreds of agencies already have the ability to send these alerts. And, again, the system that would allow a presidential alert was established years before Trump took the Oval Office so this isn't some sort of wild Trump scheme for world domination.

Secondly, the actual process of sending one of these alerts is far more complicated than just firing off a string of tweets as Trump likes to do. Skimming this protocol document (check out page 34 in particular) gives you an idea of exactly how complex putting together these messages can be. Point being, there are going to be layers between Trump and the actual message. Trump's not going to be the one typing out the message and hitting send.

Not that mistakes don't happen, as evidenced by the panic that ensued when someone in Hawaii mistakenly sent a ballistic missile alert in January. But, if nothing else, that mistake helped expose flaws in the system, flaws that will hopefully be addressed by something like the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act of 2018, which was introduced in the Senate this summer in direct response to Hawaii's false alarm.

Third, there's actual law that would prevent any president from using the alert system like a personal Twitter feed. The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 specifically says:

Use of System.—Except to the extent necessary for testing the public alert and warning system, the public alert and warning system shall not be used to transmit a message that does not relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster or threat to public safety.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Yep a President will be able to send texts in case of national disasters. I would think that it wouldn't be by his insecure phone but a securely locked down line.

Of course he could try to use it like a Twitter account and secure the Senate for Dems as well as the house because he may screw with the country but someone's phone? That serious stuff.

 

[IronWing]

My company locked down our cell phones so that we cannot turn off the weather alerts. Every time a severe storm warning goes out, our office sounds like NORAD in War Games.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

My company locked down our cell phones so that we cannot turn off the weather alerts. Every time a severe storm warning goes out, our office sounds like NORAD in War Games.

The only way to avoid receiving Trump level disaster texts is to turn off your phone or go into airplane mode. Of course once you restart or go to normal phone service...

 

[UglyCasanova]

I’m surprised they can’t do this already. It seems like a reasonable thing to enact.

 

[Lanyap]

I’m surprised they can’t do this already. It seems like a reasonable thing to enact.

Read MomentsofSanity's link above. It explains it better.

 

[crashtech]

OP, just remember Trump won't be President forever. You'll like this when a Democrat is in power.

 

[IronWing]

OP, just remember Trump won't be President forever. You'll like this when a Democrat is in power.

Nope, I never thought that a duty of the President was to save me from all harm.

 

[UNCjigga]

OP, just remember Trump won't be President forever. You'll like this when a Democrat is in power.

No, I'd like some clear reporting on the issue rather than The Hill's TDS-baiting headline. I read that their article to mean it was something new and Trump would have direct, unfiltered access. No President needs that--there should be a strict protocol in place (and even that isn't fool proof--remember the nuclear scare in Hawaii?)

 

[Jaskalas]

Did I imagine it, or did my phone just beep and say "NO COLLUSION"?

 

[Lanyap]

Can we reply all?

 

[Josephus312]

Can we reply all?

Heh, That would be awesome, a nationwide cackle of repeats.

But seriously, this is kind of fucked up all in itself, isn't it?

 

[Lanyap]

No, I'd like some clear reporting on the issue rather than The Hill's TDS-baiting headline. I read that their article to mean it was something new and Trump would have direct, unfiltered access. No President needs that--there should be a strict protocol in place (and even that isn't fool proof--remember the nuclear scare in Hawaii?)

“Protocol? I don’t need no stinking protocol!”

 

[UglyCasanova]

Can we reply all?

 

[OutHouse]

My company locked down our cell phones so that we cannot turn off the weather alerts. Every time a severe storm warning goes out, our office sounds like NORAD in War Games.

my company did the same. Amber alerts are the worst. its almost like watching a alien invasion movie where everybody phone is going off due to a national emergency.

 

[crashtech]

I'm not opposed to a federally coordinated emergency alert system, since fewer people every year tune into broadcast radio, which has had emergency alert systems in place for decades. I'm confident that any abuse of the system would be swiftly curtailed by public outcry. It does seem a little odd that the system is being sold as a direct means of communication by the President; surely we've outgrown FDR's fireside chats.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm looking for the opt out option. The last thing in the world that I want is one of his messages posting on my personal phone. Maybe they should create a texting toilet for him so people can hear him from under their morning load?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

I'm looking for the opt out option. The last thing in the world that I want is one of his messages posting on my personal phone. Maybe they should create a texting toilet for him so people can hear him from under their morning load?

You might want to turn your phone of on the 20th then cause... he’s coming for you...

 

[cytg111]

I know I am likely the most paranoid guy here... so with that in mind... my thinking immediately goes to civil war. Going is going to get tough now and I have no problem imagining one last rally cry going out like this.

 

[compuwiz1]

I know I am likely the most paranoid guy here... so with that in mind... my thinking immediately goes to civil war. Going is going to get tough now and I have no problem imagining one last rally cry going out like this.

Did you get the phone without an off switch?
If a snake was getting ready to bite your ass and there was a way to tell you, wouldn't you want to know? No, sir, I'd rather get bitten in the ass, because Trump. That guy shot himself, because Trump.

 

[cytg111]

Did you get the phone without an off switch?
If a snake was getting ready to bite your ass and there was a way to tell you, wouldn't you want to know? No, sir, I'd rather get bitten in the ass, because Trump. That guy shot himself, because Trump.

I did, as you bolded out, lead with paranoid.. I like to think of it as the scientist in me, illuminate the extremes to get an idea of whats possible... Or maybe its just paranoia.. I dont know.

 

[compuwiz1]

I did, as you bolded out, lead with paranoid.. I like to think of it as the scientist in me, illuminate the extremes to get an idea of whats possible... Or maybe its just paranoia.. I dont know.

Dude, we thought the cable TV boxes were spying on us in the 70's. They probably were.

 

[Sinsear]

I hope he uses it to troll. Would be epic. “I’m still your President” multiple times a day.