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IPFS News Link • Privacy Rights

Check Out John McAfee's (Educated) Warning About The Dark Side of That Presidential Alert

• The Organic Prepper by Daisy Luther

Yesterday, the first Presidential Alert was sent to phones all across the country. Theories and screenshots took over the internet shortly thereafter.

But one of these theories, in particular, comes from a source that is especially credible with regard to cybersecurity: John McAfee.

Let's take a quick look at what other folks were saying before we get into McAfee's assertion.

First, political foes were "triggered."

Before the alert ever came through, three people in New York were suing to stop it.

The activists filed the suit last week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, arguing that the system violates their free speech rights and constitutes an unconstitutional seizure of their electronic devices…

…Wireless phone users have the ability to opt out of most alerts sent under the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. While some users can choose not to receive regional messages and so-called Amber Alerts regarding missing or endangered children, under federal rules, receipt of the top-level "presidential alerts" is mandatory.

In the new lawsuit, J.B. Nicholas, Kristine Rakowsky and Liane Nikitovich contend that the system will effectively turn them into "government loudspeakers" that would allow Trump or others to disseminate propaganda. (source)

Since the alert went out, it appears that their request for a preliminary injunction was not approved.

The motive behind their suit was political, as opposed to constitutional.

Nicholas, Rakowsky and Nikitovich accuse Trump of disseminating "weaponized disinformation" on Twitter and say they "don't wish to receive text messages, or messages of any kind, on any topic or subject, from Defendant Trump." (source)

And they weren't the only ones who were "triggered" by the alert. All across social media, people bemoaned the fact that the wording was "Presidential Alert."


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