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Comment by wcarss | Hacker News Reader

I really hope to see someone trace and deconstruct the level of bizarre conspiracy theory generation around this event.

For those not aware, I've seen (mostly through semi-related posts on e.g. Reddit) a lot of people forwarding and subscribing to all kinds of absolute nonsense ideas about this event "broadcasting a signal to activate the Marburg virus" or "being particularly painful for the vaccinated to hear", or "likely to start many small fires in modern devices".

I bet that kind of stuff goes around about lots of events -- but I am curious if this one has become so popularly expected to result in bizarre catastrophes just because it's national? Or are people just _much_ more gullible this year?

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The only concern I've seen is people who might have reason to keep a phone's existence secret. Those with abusive partners, parents, etc.

They might consider setting airplane mode or powering it off when not in use.

I saw this one too, and it's an interesting point to consider. I would imagine those people's phones would mostly already be usually concealed, because e.g. an amber or a weather alert with similar effects and consequences could come in at any time.

Unlike those alerts, the FEMA alerts cannot be disabled.

Hm, really? On my up-to-date iPhone 13 Mini, I have all of AMBER, Emergency, Public Safety, and Test alerts disabled. Seems like this would fall under at least one of those. I guess we'll find out :) I don't mind a text alert, but I'll be pretty pissed if it makes a bunch of noise.

Neither users nor device manufacturers are allowed the option to disable US Presidential or FEMA device alerts.

All right, fuck it, I'll just turn the thing off for an hour, lol. No one gets to make my phone make noise except me.

I heard from somewhere that even phones turned off will sound the alarm if the battery is in. Could you report back if that happens?

How is it possible you are on this website?

Here's an article from 2014 on how it might be possible: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nsa-remotely-turn-on-phones,new...

They obviously use the same undetectable power and rf technology that Bill Gates developed for the implantable microchip.

This comment is low value, rude, and ignorant, and should not be on this website.

It's called a roving bug and dates back to at least the mid 2000's https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-as...

That's not how the emergency alert system operates.

Here's a bit more information for you, it should help with the fear-mongering bs.

> https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/out-of-coverage-switched-...

Report: I had the phone off from 2:10 through 3:30. When I turned it on, there was no alert. Emergency successfully avoided!

Thanks for reporting back!

Thank you for reminding me to turn off Amber Alerts on my new 15.

Think of me fondly when you are sleeping soundly at 3 AM~

Can they at least be silenced so your phone doesn’t make an audible buzz or vibration?

Nope.

At least for the ones sent in the Netherlands, if the iPhone is in silent mode, instead of making noises, it will vibrate strongly for a full minute or so.

Well, on Android I had Do Not Disturb on as a test today and the alert was silent but still received - saw it when waking my phone.

Prison guards will probably also be on the lookout, I'd imagine.

Oh boy that's kind of grimly hilarious, depending on one's attitude towards cellphones in prison.

I was joking with my middle school aged son about this. They have a phones off policy at his school and my guess is a lot of kids are going to get phones confiscated at 12:30 MST.

Those aren't even that far-reaching theories... Apparently, Russia also did a test for this same exact thing today, so you can image the parallels that drew from a select few communities.

'Attention - remain calm': Russia tests public warning system (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-conduct-emergenc...)

So much current conspiracy stuff is so wild that it's essentially impossible to distinguish conspiracy theories that people deeply believe in from sarcasm and for the lulz postings.

Ya it's weird, but it's largely a rehash of the same things that come up every time an amber alert or emergency tone is played.

Also weird, it's the same people who complaining a pizza shop has a secret underground child prison that are upset by actual attempts to quickly save children.

The conspiracy is that the alerts are mostly used to catch escaped children

Same thing happened last time.

Time to mass-send "Over-the-air vaccination successful. Remain calm. -CDC" per SMS

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