The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will use Twitter and Facebook in a mix of methods to issue terrorism alerts and warnings, instead of its nine-year color-coded system, according to a report obtained by the Associated Press.
Under a new system that may be in place within weeks, “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 AP said today (4/7).
The social media outreach for alerts is not a new concept; Homeland Security itself mentioned it might be included in late January when it announced the end of the color-coded system that has been in place since 2002.
The National Terrorism Advisory System alerts will be based on the nature of the threat: in some cases, alerts will be sent directly to law enforcement or affected areas of the private sector, while in others, alerts will be issued more broadly to the American people through both official and media channels—including a designated DHS webpage (www.dhs.gov/alerts), as well as social media channels including Facebook and via Twitter @NTASAlerts.
DHS said new alerts would include a “sunset” provision for when they’d expire. AP somewhat cleverly described this as similar to expiration dates on milk cartons.
Instead of five color levels (Severe, High, Elevated, Guarded, Low), AP said the new system would have only two — Elevated and Imminent.
“The new advisory system is designed to be easier to understand and more specific, but it’s impossible to know how often the public will receive these warnings. The message will always depend on the threat and the intelligence behind it,” AP reported.
