Thought Trump’s Twitter was bad? Next year, he can send texts to every phone in the US
Any president, not just future President Donald Trump can send you text messages that you would not be able to block. No president did it in the past for personal reasons. The question is, will Trump do it once he takes office?
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Given Trump’s preference for impetuously hurling out whatever goes through his mind via Twitter, you’d think that he’d find the WEA system even better suited for his needs.
Short for Wireless Emergency Alerts, the system is a program put in place in 2006 after Congress passed the Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act (or WARN). The system can be used for instantly sending text messages to all cell phone numbers in use in the USA, and the recipients can’t block it.
Only three types of alerts are permitted, NYMag reports, including alerts by the President, alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life, and amber alerts. Depending on where you live, you may have received such messages in the past.
Of those, the Presidential alerts can be blocked with the help of carriers. Should Trump ever consider that he needs to set the record straight on a matter beyond what a Twitter rant can offer, the WEAs system could be an option.
Now, Trump would not be able to send the messages himself. He’d have to go through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System. And even if he could do it without objections from FEMA, there’s a certain learning curve to using the system.
The following video from Business Insider further explains the WEAs communication system.
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