What I texted President Biden about how to restore public trust during a hurricane of lies
Good afternoon from Washington, where we are enjoying the best fall weather yet while a toxic storm of lies, rumors, and conspiracy theories undermines our government‘s response to the historic hurricane that swept inland last weekend.
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This afternoon, I texted a letter about how to restore public in response to President Joe Biden’s text about federal disaster response on Monday.
The letter was drafted after the White House posted a historic memorandum on fighting Hurricane Helene falsehoods with facts.
While the effort to use WhiteHouse.gov to debunk falsehoods, was worthy, the “opt-in texts” from POTUS referenced in its are woefully inadequate to the wicked challenges that lies and conspiracy theories pose for federal, state, and local agencies engaged in rescue and recovery operations.
First responders say disinformation and misinformation are negatively affecting disaster response in 2024, from diverting resources to undermining public trust in federal government.
Agencies must innovate now to get trustworthy to where people are using texts and prebunk lies, not continue to leave information voids for bad actors to fill with rumor and lies.
I hope President Biden uses the National Wireless Emergency Alert System to text every American in the regions devasted by Hurricane Helene ASAP, sending links to DisasterAssistance.gov, the FEMA app, and a toll-free number: 80016213362.
After all, it is legal to send a Presidential alert to “alert and warn the civilian population in areas endangered by natural disasters.” This is literally what hardwired smartphone notifications are designed for!
The President should do so now, fulfilling his oath to serve and protect the Americans who need trustworthy information and access to services. It’s past time to do much more arm us with the knowledge we need for self-governance and the faith that our government of the people is coming to help all of the people, no matter who we voted for last election.
After sending this alert, the president should dare his detractors to object by sending one on Tuesday encouragung every eligible American to register to vote at the new Vote.gov.
E Pluribus Unum.
