Source: Charlotte Observer / Getty

We can mute the tangerine menace that is our “President” Donald Trump on Twitter and Instagram but thanks to a new alert system he will be contacting you directly.

Can we opt out? That’s what some people are wondering because of the mass alert coming from FEMA at 2:18 p.m. Eastern called the ‘Presidential Alert’ stating “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.No action is needed.” The purpose of the alert system is to give the sitting President the ability to warn citizens of dire situations like war, terror attacks, pandemic or natural disasters. Now, this sounds like a life-saving idea, but it’s the idea of our current sitting President and the government being able to send a message to our phones that is unsettling.

Oh and to make matter worse, you cannot opt out of the feature sorry to burst your bubble. The only way you can avoid the message is by turning off your phone completely. In Trump’s defense (we can’t believe we just said that) the system has been in the works for about 12 years, so he just happened to be the President when it was finally ready to be tested.

Why people are so worried about the system is because of Trump’s impulsiveness and the idea he could use the system to send anything he wants. A law prevents him from doing so, but this is not a conventional President we are dealing with. Also, some strange things have happened under his watch like the citizens of Hawaii getting a misleading warning of an incoming missile attack.

The system is already the subject of a lawsuit that was filed last week in New York. Three plaintiffs make the claim that the system is a violation of their free speech and is unconstitutional seizure of their devices. Whether you like it or not it’s still happening, you can see the fallout to the test in the gallery below.

—

Photo: Charlotte Observer / Getty