Government To Begin Using Facebook And Twitter For Terror Alerts

by Jon Bershad | 2:59 pm, April 7th, 2011

» 7 comments

Get ready for something like this: @WhiteHouse – Terror Alert #BeScared

Ok, not really, but the government is planning on employing social media to alert citizens of danger. A 19 page document has been released detailing the new alert system that will be replacing the color code whose retirement was announced last January. The new system will only have two levels, elevated and imminent, and will be sent out only for a limited period of time.

From CBS News:

‘The 19-page document, marked ‘for official use only’ and dated April 1, describes the step-by-step process that would occur behind the scenes when the government believes terrorists might be threatening Americans. It describes the sequence of notifying members of Congress, then counterterrorism officials in states and cities and then governors and mayors and, ultimately, the public. It specifies even details about how many minutes U.S. officials can wait before organizing urgent conference calls among themselves to discuss pending threats. It places the Homeland Security secretary, currently Janet Napolitano, in charge of the so-called National Terrorism Advisory System.

The new terror alerts would also be published online using Facebook and Twitter ‘when appropriate,’ the plan said, but only after federal, state and local government leaders have already been notified. The new system is expected to be in place by April 27.”

Unlike the color codes, the new system will be much less vague and the warnings will only go up for the time of the specific concern. No longer will we always be in Orange with occasional dips into Reddish Orange. If something comes up, people in specific areas will be notified that, for a period of time, the threat level is elevated.

This sounds like a good plan and the use of social media seems like a natural step. However, it does bring up an interesting question. If you get a Facebook message telling you your city may be under attack and you want to spread the message to your friends, does that mean you have to “like” it?

captaingrumpy

Liberal weirdness for sure
Steve_27

If they make a movie about her Paul Giamante would play the part.
Pablo

OMG! H8rs r cuming! Run!!
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

I’d be interested in reading the whole report because clearly the AP writer grabbed onto the sexiness of Twitter and Facebook, but one assumes that there’s also procedures regarding traditional media.

Sure, a tweet is a good way to broadcast and media outlets can be monitoring a Twitter feed, but I assume in the case of something “real”, DHS will contact the wires and networks, plus they’ll also have a procedure, if social media is under attack too.

Otherwise, I commented to another blog earlier with a bit of sarcasm, pointing toward the retweet spoof regarding Morgan Freeman.

One would hope in the case of Homeland Security, legitimate media would verify the source or the reports which a couple of smaller outlets didn’t do in regards to Mr. Freeman. Though even if other media didn’t fall for a “prank”, a couple of well-crafted spoofed retweets and one could easily create some level of panic or mischievously spread rumors among the general population.

This is not to say that I’m opposed to using social media. It seems like a good way to contact the 20m or so active users and media outlets could monitor the account, but it would’ve been nice if the AP had also mentioned some of the other, less sexy methods.
Layercake

THis lady is a disaster…one of the worst picks Obaam ever made….
X-3

Only a fool like Incompetano could come up with such a lame-brained idea. I’m sure it will work as well as her efforts to keep Hammas from infiltrating our border with Mexico.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_D4G2W5QFFKB4UIKSENHIH46H2I Dylan Roberts

Check out this new Janet Napolitano vi d on Y o u T u b e: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmf3Ubl0LJM
SOOOOOOOOOOO funnYYY!!!