Tomorrow, all cell phone users nationwide will receive a test alert.
FEMA, The Federal Emergency Management Agency, is firing off a message to test run their new Wireless Emergency Alerts system. Between 2:20 PM and 3:00 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, October 4th, an alert will come to your phone reading:
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The test message is set to appear once on your phone, accompanied by “a unique tone and vibration, both repeated twice.”
The message/alert will appear on your phone even if it is silenced.
Upon sharing this news on MacWorld.com, John Rich reshared the article, noting that he is unhappy.
Part of the iconic duo Big & Rich, John Rich has been very vocal about his political alignment and how he feels about the government being involved in aspects of his personal life.
He quickly took to Twitter (now known as X) to share his distaste for the FEMA test.
“Oct 4th, they’re gonna ring every phone, computer, TV, and radio with a “special sound” nationwide for 30 minutes.
Don’t know about you, but I don’t like it one bit.”
While the article outlining the processes of this system testing outlines how to turn off your government notification, many users were quick to jump in, sharing their concerns about the government’s ability to send nationwide notifications.
“This is creepy and intrusive.”
“This is not ok.”
“The last thing I need in a real emergency is the government here to “help” me!”
“My phone will be broken all day; not sure why, but it will be.”
“iPhone users- Go to notifications and go to the bottom. Turn off government alerts if you wish to.”
“Yeah… no thank you.”
While Amber Alerts are nationwide government notifications, the testing of this system struck a nerve with Rich.
