The US Will Use Twitter and Facebook to Issue Terror Alerts

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The U.S. government is working on a new warning system to replace their oft criticized five-color coded terror index, and according to a new document obtained by The Associated Press, they’re turning to Facebook and Twitter.

The AP reports:

The 19-page document, marked “for official use only” and dated April 1, describes the step-by-step process that would occur behind the scenes when the government believes terrorists might be threatening Americans. It describes the sequence of notifying members of Congress, then counterterrorism officials in states and cities and then governors and mayors and, ultimately, the public.

The document insists that terror warnings would only be issued “when appropriate,” and only after the proper authorities have been alerted first. The implementation is said to take effect as soon as April 27.

The new system isn’t meant to incite panic, but rather to alert the public and call for extra caution. Each warning would also come equipped with an expiration date when issued.

In the United States, Twitter has nearly 106 million registered accounts, and Facebook has roughly 150 million US users.

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