Everyone with a cell phone will receive the same text message at the same time next month. This text message will be a test to help Donald Trump and future U.S. presidents send out nationwide text messages, also known as “Presidential Alerts.”
On Oct. 3, at 2:18 p.m. EDT, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will send out a nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert test that will be followed by a nationwide emergency alert test on television and radio. It was first scheduled to be tested on Sep. 20, but due to the severe weather of Hurricane Florence, it was forced into a delay. According to FEMA, “The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed.” President George W. Bush passed a bill in 2006, which augmented this capability of theoretically sending a text message to every cell phone across the country in the case of a national disaster. This will be the fourth test of this system, following two from President Obama and one from President Trump last year.
Courtesy: Caspar Rubin
This system was created over the past several years by FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission as a way for the federal government to issue warnings from the President himself regarding emergency situations. Some reports have suspicions that President Trump will use this outlet for political messages. It has inspired mockery on social media and many users imagine that the alert system will become an outlet for the messages Trump usually disseminates via Twitter.
However, there has been no evidence of the system being misused. For even more security, all messages must go through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. If you are still worried, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 states, “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.”
The emergency alerts for this system will much resemble the Amber Alerts we are all familiar with, that pop up simultaneously on many people’s cell phones. However, only certain carriers will receive the message. FEMA stated, “WEA compatible cell phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA should be capable of receiving the test message.” Compatible cell phones, which includes over one hundred carriers, will only receive the message once. The message will have a header reading, “Presidential Alert,” and the body will read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” Similar to an Amber alert, the cellphones will emit a strange, uncommon and insistent sound and vibration and your screen will display the message. The test will last for about one minute. Users cannot opt out of receiving the message and cannot opt out of receiving future messages if the test goes smoothly, which is similar to an Amber alert.