Remember when the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) revealed last month that they would be testing something called a “Presidential Alert” that, in effect, would allow President Donald Trump to send a short message to every single wireless user in the country? If you do, then you know that the test, which thankfully will not allow Trump to simply inundate everyone’s phones with his thoughts on the latest episode of Fox & Friends, was delayed… until tomorrow.
According to Variety, unless you’re in the middle of a phone call or have turned off your device altogether, you will receive the “Presidential Alert” sometime at 2:18 p.m. ET or in the half-hour period after. You can’t opt out of it:
Users will not be able to block or otherwise opt out of the test “Presidential Alert” message. Under the 2006 law establishing the wireless-alert system, Congress allowed participating carriers to let subscribers block any emergency alerts — except for those issued by the sitting U.S. president.
Aside from a few pertinent details about the alert (and the legalities supporting its existence), FEMA also released a mock-up image of what the message will look like on a smartphone.
📳TOMORROW (Wednesday) 10/3: Expect to get a test emergency alert message on your phone at 2:18 PM EDT.
You’ll hear a loud tone & vibration. This is a nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system.
Questions? Check out https://t.co/Op8T9AEpiF. pic.twitter.com/RIdPay87eN
— FEMA (@fema) October 2, 2018
Sure enough, there’s no mention of Brett Kavanaugh, the United Nations General Assembly laughing “with” Trump, or anything of the sort. The test message in the example simply reads, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
(Via Variety)