Florida CFO Wants FCC to Halt Nationwide WEAs

letter on X and also issued it as a news release. “What was the point of that? Was it really necessary?” Patronis wrote about the nationwide WEA test. “The federal government scared about 70% of Americans with that alert, and in my opinion, this was government overreach at its finest.” Patronis characterized the WEA alert as a “DM” (direct message, such as those used by social media apps) in the letter, and said the alert test made “Big Tech” and “Big Government” seem to be “indistinguishable.” “There is absolutely zero reason that the federal government needs to notify millions of Americans at the exact same moment,” wrote Patronis. “It’s unreasonable that people on the West Coast need to be alerted about something going on in the East Coast.” Nationwide alerts exist to provide warning of a massive emergency event that could affect large swaths of the country, such as a large-scale nuclear missile strike, alerting officials have told us. They have also said that tests of the warning system are necessary to ensure that it will work when it is needed, similar to the local alerting tests commonly performed by broadcast stations around the country. “State Emergency Management Directors are more than capable of protecting and alerting their own citizens during emergencies without the federal government needlessly getting in the way,” wrote Patronis. “I urge you as the Chairwoman of the FCC and a fellow taxpayer to immediately halt any further utilization of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.” "Life-saving emergency alert systems are the law, as is the requirement" that the Federal Emergency Management Agency "conduct periodic nationwide tests and they are responsible for setting the date and time of these tests," emailed an FCC spokesperson. "The FCC strongly supports emergency alerting, which saves lives in communities across the country."