Social media is serious business for the United States of America and those responsible for defending the homeland.
The US Department of Homeland Security is reportedly moving away from its one-time prominent color-coded terror warnings. Instead, the Federal Government is turning to social media to keep the general public abreast of potential security threats or terrorist attacks.
According to the Associated Press, the government’s new system to replace the five color-coded terror alerts will have two levels of warnings — “elevated” and “imminent.”
The report suggests that the levels will be revealed to the public “only under certain circumstances for limited periods of time, sometimes using Facebook and Twitter.”
An “elevated” alert speaks to a credible threat against the US. No timing or targets would have been identified. An “imminent” alert, on the other hand, addressed a “credible, specific and impending terrorist threat” or an on-going attack against the US.
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.
If the information obtained by the AP is accurate, the new terror alert system could be put in place before the end of April.
