Ironically, when I tried to load Wired’s story about this travesty, Wired quickly hid the content with pop-over asking me to subscribe.
Twitter is hot garbage, that’s only gotten worse since Elon took over, but this is really just a problem with government agencies/departments using social media websites as primary avenues of delivering information.
Dear fucking god this is the real issue and why Mastodon is the solution because the agencies can have their own self-hosted presence. Is it perfect by any stretch? Oh fuck no, but it’s a lot closer to those groups having an independence and not relying on the corporations good graces for any of it to keep functioning.
When government relies on corporations to function, those corporations can hold a proverbial gun to the governments head and say “now do what we say or we make everything stop working.”
this is really just a problem with government agencies/departments using social media websites as primary avenues of delivering information.
I guarantee that this was not a “primary avenue” for delivering this information.Edit: I was wrong. Finally got the confirmation that should have been included in the article from the beginning:
The alert popped up on the phone with the link, which people could not see.
But instead of conveying vital information that could help locate the victim within the notification itself, the law enforcement agency linked to a post from its official X account
Ah. I see. The alerts were conveyed directly to phones via primary avenues: Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS). Those alerts included a link to their Xhitter account.
Every Amber alert I’ve seen has included location, name of the adult, license plate, vehicle description, a description of the child, etc. Most include come kind of link (secondary avenue) that (in my experience) just shows the content from the alert, and doesn’t actually provide any further detail.
Have we confirmed that this alert included only the link to Xhitter, without the other data? If that is actually the case, it’s not just the CHP’s failure, but also the managers of the WEA and EAS systems: They aren’t supposed to activate those systems without the actual message.
Jesus the article and everyone is telling you what happened and you just won’t accept it.
ACKSUALLY, I did accept it, just as soon as someone posted a screenshot of the alert in question. Which I promptly posted in several other comments.
Given the abhorrent state of modern journalism, and the lack of a simple screenshot that would have conclusively demonstrated the problem, “skepticism” was justified.
ACKSUALLY you didn’t. The news writers saw it and told you, I saw it and told you, other people saw it and told you, everyone saw it and told you. You would not accept it. You jumped through every hoop you could and blamed everyone else to not accept it. Ciao.
A bunch of people, you included, told me they read the article, and then cited that article as their source. I asked for a screenshot of the alert, and explained how to get it. Eventually, someone provided the screenshot I requested, and demonstrated that this particular alert differs from every other alert I have ever seen:
Have we confirmed that this alert included only the link to Xhitter, without the other data?
I guess you’re looking for another source, but as far as this one goes it states in the first paragraph that this was exactly the problem:
Earlier this week, the California Highway Patrol sent an Amber Alert push notification to phones in the Los Angeles area about a 14-year-old girl that authorities believed had been abducted. But instead of conveying vital information that could help locate the victim within the notification itself, the law enforcement agency linked to a post from its official X account, a practice it adopted six years ago. But this time, many people reported they could not view the alert because they hit a screen that prevents users from seeing any content on X until they sign into their account.
On an android phone, under Settings, you can view past emergency alerts, including AMBER alerts. I’d like to see a screenshot of this particular alert.
If that alert does not include the actual information, I’ll be happy to pick up my pitchfork. Hell, I’ll even start boiling some tar, but I don’t have a good supplier for feathers…
Until then, what the author is describing does not correspond to my own experiences receiving AMBER alerts, and seems to contradict WEA and EAS policies. I’m open to being proven wrong, I’m just skeptical.
If CHP is only sending Xhitter links, there are problems with CHP, EAS, and WEA, as none of them are supposed to be using the systems that way.
If, instead, they are providing the data and the Xhitter link, the problem is with user expectations.
I had no idea this shit depended on twitter!?!? what a bunch of bullshit. Even though I usually ignore amber alerts they should at the very least be as accessible as possible for people who help.
Former HI Governor Ige could not recall a false missile attack alert because he didnt know his Xitter password.
they should at the very least be as accessible as possible for people who help.
They’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember, the link in the amber alert led to a Twitter post that anyone could view. It wasn’t until musk recently making it so you have to make an account in order to see posts which makes me surprised this hasn’t been brought up sooner
People complain about being annoyed by amber alerts on their phones anyway
Complaining about a loud irrelevant thing is different from not wanting it.
I haven’t been able to even* load* Facebook or X because of some privacy/security setting I must have enabled. Before that fb wouldn’t let me see anything without an account and X was pulling really similar stunts, requiring an account for full access, although usually you could read the tweet and a few replies maybe.
It is absolutely bullshit for ALL the information to be on a social media post. I’ve definitely gotten them before with age and suspect/vehicle or something, and Twitter would have photos and further details like last seen location and clothes.
Wait until you install JShelter and Cloudflare refuse access
It’s not just Xitter and Facebook, it’s just most private social sites these days. IG, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, etc. They want to know who you are and what you’re doing, because that’s how they make money.
Why can’t they just put the information in the alert directly? That’s what the Koreans did when I was there. Why this extra indirection in the first place?
That’s what happens in my part of the US as well.
Do do both. The text of the alert and a link for minor updates that don’t warrant a new alert.
Possibly laziness and/or wanting to link to an “official” source.
Instead of publishing 34 more alerts, a interested person could just follow the account.
Or link to an official website with the details.
Yeah, that was my thought. Put a page on their government website. I would recommend their state department of homeland security for emergency services
Make a subpage: https://www.caloes.ca.gov/office-of-the-director/operations/homeland-security/
Their mission statement on that site fits perfectly with it:
“We protect California by leveraging partnerships, bolstering capabilities, illuminating threats, sharing intelligence and advancing the Homeland Security Strategy.”
going to assume it’s easier to hire a social media intern then train on a cms to post to a website.
It’s really not. Even crappy interns can learn quickly to post to a CMS.
However, that’s not what was being suggested here. Just…include the details in the alert that actually gets sent?
This is what happens when governments rely on a private corporate service for public announcements
Every government should just adopt a fediverse instance of some sort, maintain it and push that to everyone to use as a public announcement service. That way it would not be controlled, manipulated, lost or disconnected if they had full control over it all the time.
This is a solved problem
Shit catches fire in Australia and we get text messages.
Our phones in America get amber alerts and extreme weather notifications too, so idk what this article is on about
ignoring for a second you can turn off push notifications so that’s a stupid contact method in the first place they also just linked to a 3rd party site instead of sending info directly over the system.
WEA messages aren’t push notificationn, nor are they SMS messages like Australia uses. They are a separate system. Our phones are configured to pop up the message over everything, and they default with a loud, unique alert tone.
Some WEA messages can be blocked; some cannot.
They aren’t supposed to be used to just send links; they are supposed to send the actual message. This is the first time I’ve heard of an Amber Alert that didn’t include details about the suspect and victim.
They aren’t supposed to be used to just send links
looks like that is the only real issue here then
Someone elaenin the thread posted a screenshot. The Amber alert in CA basically just said it was an alert and a bit.ly link to Twitter for info.
Why the fuck doesn’t California actually include the info on the alert itself like I’ve always gotten anywhere else? That’s the actual question. Every alert I have received in AZ has had all relevant info for the alert in the alert itself, never just a link elsewhere.
Did you try reading it?
Yeah but government doing anything besides feeding corporate parasites is communism.
Can’t have that… We should be paying Twitter a service fee for them allowing our government to communicate to peasants.
The government uses EAS and WEA to disseminate alerts. Both are government-operated systems that are not controlled, manipulated, lost, or disconnected by third parties. The AMBER alert in question was delivered via both EAS and WEA.
The Xhitter avenue (along with every other major social media platform) is what they refer to as a “secondary distributor”.
According to the article, that was not done in this case, hence the article.
Yes, that is the claim I’m looking to verify. Is that claim accurate?
You can view past alerts you have received. On android phones, Settings > Notifications > Wireless Emergency Alerts > Emergency alert history. (or just search for “Amber”). One screenshot can easily prove or disprove the article’s claim.
Again, if this is actually what happened, it indicates a problem not just with CHP, but also with EAS and WEA for not ensuring the requested alert message included the emergency content.
Post with a screenshot someone posted elsewhere in the thread. California sent the alert out in the shittiest way possible. It’s not the system itself, it’s how California is choosing to do it. I’ve never had any emergency alerts here in AZ be remotely this useless.
Post with a screenshot someone posted elsewhere in the thread
Yeah, they were responding to me. :)
I’ve never had any emergency alerts here in AZ be remotely this useless.
Ohio’s include descriptions of suspects, victims, vehicles, locations, etc.
Ohio’s include descriptions of suspects, victims, vehicles, locations, etc.
Same here in AZ. I’m sure there are times photos are posted to Twitter too or something, but that’s separate from the actual alert info.
Except the primary distributor doesn’t have any actionable details.
Yep! I finally got confirmation of that when someone posted a screenshot of the alert.
What a bunch of chucklefucks.
Don’t worry they spam everyone’s cell phones with deafening alerts at 3am too.
Thankfully all but the shitty national ones can be turned off on most Android phones.
That’s because conservatives are pedophiles who sex-traffic children.
If we’re going by outcomes alone, it seems very likely.
The mobile carriers and device OEM’s already participate directly in the Amber alert program. Why is X even part of this?
The problem isn’t the alert itself, it’s that cops put Twitter links in the alert. If you want to see what the car, suspect, or victim look like, you need to be able to access Twitter.
Police have been doing this for years now. It’s a fast a cheap way to microblog without buying or supporting something with the city’s budget.
Why the hell doesn’t FBI or some other fed agency create tools for shit like this? Why is every city reinventing the wheel?
Because they dont allow marijuana users in government jobs
Can’t have those ticket funds going to digital infrastructure when you gotta get up armored trucks to deal with protesters.
Yup funds, and the web traffic handleability.
My small city (population 89,000) had a 911 outage about 2 years ago. Their solution was to sms text or voice dial everyone with the message “…please dial any county non-emergency number… see a list of numbers at bitly.url…”. The hosted website was hugged-to-death.After fines, it was inevitably cheaper to extend the nearest net backbone closer to our neck of the woods and upgrade all county things with fiber and data centers.
This happened to me in Missouri about 6 months ago. Couldn’t view the amber alert because twitter.
I mean fuck X, sure, but why is the police posting crucial information on a commercial, privately moderated platform? Why would you just assume everyone has an account with Musk’s service?
I’ve seen this shit in Europe too - with everyone just assuming you’ll have WhatsApp. At least most EU governments don’t use it exclusively, but I’m certain countries, like Turkey, WhatsApp is the only channel where information can often be found.
This is part of the fall of Twitter.
There were two paths for Twitter, in the eyes of many idealistic people like me. One path was something terrible like what happened with Musk. The second path was one that treated it as a public commons of the world.
That second path is how many grew to understand Twitter during its rise and peak. This is why there are so many situations where various public and governmental groups used it as a notification feed/system.
You can go on about how they should just start their own ActivityPub based solution, or move to bluesky or whatever. But it’s not that simple for all of them. Nor are all of the groups involved in posting these feeds technically savvy to do so. Twitter made it easy, and it made sense.
The article could have easily been just as absurd if it was about how people didn’t get the alert because the alerts were moved to a mastodon instance and people are upset because they don’t want to have to go through the trouble of picking a server. heh.
It’s so unfortunate that Twitter went this way. No more free and easy api, no more third party apps and tools. No more expectation that everyone is there. No more expectation that public alerts make sense there.
Yes, centralizing all of this is a big problem. And musk is just one example of why. But, it could have gone the other way.
The article could have easily been just as absurd if it was about how people didn’t get the alert because the alerts were moved to a mastodon instance and people are upset because they don’t want to have to go through the trouble of picking a server. heh.
You can view mastodon posts without being forced to make an account. This use to be the case with Twitter before it was turned into X.
That’s true. I’m thinking of the subscribe/follow aspect.
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Our police do the same in Australia with Facebook and I can’t view them
The Dutch government used Twitter for a lot of information (though this was often if not always found on their own websites as well), but now they host their own Mastodon instance for any gov related stuff that can be used by government agencies in conjunction with or as a replacement for Twitter. Which is pretty cool imo.
I hope many organizations and groups follow suit.
Honestly, Mastodon is better than Twitter of course but I would still prefer them to post official stuff on a website that isn’t social media at all.
Why? As long as the host it and moderate it, why does it matter that the platform’s code was created as social media?
Mainly because most social media isn’t really very well made for the purpose of making sure you have seen every post (anything with upvotes/downvotes) or limit the content of a post (microblog-style social media, video/image focused social media).
I agree, but this would only work if people used RSS in the mainstream. They should but they don’t. So it seems posting to a social account that people can follow for updates is the path of least resistance.
I am not saying they can’t post links to the posts to all social media platforms, just that the actual post should be on some regular website.
They do both - Mastodon is easier to follow with notifications, and the official site serves more of an archival purpose.
They do that as well. The social media post will contain a brief synopsis and will link to a government website for more information.
Then they shouldn’t link to the social media post from elsewhere though as described in the article.
Amber alerts do go out via phone alerts to everyone in the area. They’re probably just supplementing that with a Twitter post since you can refer back to it.
Yes this happened to me and my wife.
Alert came in one the phone (screaming at us really) then when you clicked on the notification. Bam blocked because we didn’t have a twitter account.
Can you share a screenshot of the alert? If it’s an android phone, you can find historical alerts under “Settings”.
Huh that’s interesting. Never knew that.
Thank you!
Oh good, the X link is hidden behind a broken Bitly link. WTF are these people even thinking? Who is in charge of this? Such levels of incompetence should be grounds for firing.
It’s crazy to me that’s all the info I cluded in the Amber alert itself.
Every alert I’ve ever gotten here in Arizona had the relevant info on the alert, regardless of how large that might make it.
Why the fuck would California shorten the info in the first place?
Unfortunately I haven’t received any since I got a new phone, so my history is empty.
Just make that account bro🤡
No
That’s because Elon Musk works with the pedophile elites. He can’t have people knowing the truth.
I sincerely doubt this was anything targeted at Amber Alerts specifically.
I wonder why such an important piece of info is posted on social media but not on a dedicated webpage that can be linked to any social media posts.
Social media has a very good ratio of information spreading versus effort required. It’s also why it’s a popular thing for misinformation and influence campaigns.
In contrast, if a government agency wants to make a website for this, it probably needs a proposal, budget request, approval by a commission, a bidding process, and other bureaucatic procedures put in place by politicians that wanted to lower spending.
How hard is it to hire some 23 year old who just graduated in IT and ask them to do it? Static webpages aren’t hard, drag learned how to make them in high school.
Governments are probably a bit hesitant to go that route after a few pages like that got hacked and ended up full of Russian propaganda.
And we got news like this.
Addition: Difficult, cumbersome, and bureaucratic to do doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it. Those are just purely excuses.
And remember the attempt to abandon AM radio as a standard for diseminating emergency information.
Yay, privatization? Just post it to a social media platform so the official org doesn’t have to dedicate IT resources or further effort to it?
I mean, it’s not like people would check that dedicated webpage on their own, and they are less likely to click on that webpage to get the additional details. Just put it on the platform most people are using and don’t add extra steps to see what’s needed.
If they’re looking to Xitter it could be copy/pasted instead, but then updates get harder to manage.
Just put it on the platform most people are using and don’t add extra steps to see what’s needed.
Most, but not all people should be a deal breaker for a public service announcement.
That was my take. Still is, but was before, too, although I have concerns about it. I don’t even use xitter. It’s an unfortunate conundrum and I don’t know the answer. We are clearly seeing the results of channeling government communications through private platforms where information can be gatekept. But what’s the alternative? I agree that the government website should be the primary source and private platforms the secondary source, but, much in the way US-market cars hide the “real” tail lights in/under the trunk in order to put “aux” tail lights on moving trunk/tailgate panels, that’s just not how the general public will use it.
People want to be entertained. Getting info through private media is the most we can hope for. People don’t want to get real news media, let alone their local government’s attempt at a blog site. I know we get amber alerts direct from the cell network to some unique software on phones, but I imagine rolling out some more-frequent alert system will cause a ton of privacy/freedom backlash crying about being one goosestep away from China.
But what’s the alternative?
Posting the information on an official page and creating links with summaries on social media.
But what’s the alternative?
the government hosting their own social media like how some college campus’ have their own mastadon server specifically for their universities news. It’s not like other organizations haven’t already done it before. Spin your own server, and in your alerts, link your own mastodon server, which should not require user login to read. The platform doesnt matter as long as the information and where to send additional information for help is functional for them. spinning their own servers gives them full control of the outcome.
if you read the article, you’d find out that the alert linked to the X post. it could be linking to a dedicated webpage instead, which wouldn’t require logging in.
It should be linked to another page. Social media should never the be the primary source for anything like this.
Not even another page should be the primary source. That page should be a secondary for updates. The alert itself should have included all the actionable details.
can/should the protocol used to deliver emergency alerts support images/video, if so what formats and size limits?
Doesn’t have to, I think. Text is actually quite adequate. Sure, images are great but that’s only for a subset of alerts, like AMBER, but that can be achieved by secondary distribution channels like a dedicated webpage or social media. There won’t be network congestion during those alerts. You don’t really need images or video for alerts like floods, hurricanes, or even missile incoming alerts. For those you only need an address or coordinates that can point people to the closest shelter. Yeah, not all people are familiar with the surroundings (like traveling) but in that kind of scenarios every people around you will pool together and get to the same location.
The whole core functionality that the alert system must achieve is a near 100% delivery rate that uses minimal bandwidth of the network. You don’t want to stress the network because there are more important traffic need to be routed, like 911.
Yes, use the POSSE principle: post own site, syndicate elsewhere
Especially Musk’s far-right propaganda platform. Public and media organizations need to stop using it.
Social media should never be someone’s primary website too. IMO. But people are lazy.
They don’t even want email anymore, they want you to message them with Twitter or Instagram or whatever.
