And then the men with guns tell you to do it anyway
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Emergency alert systems can be abused by governments, as Vodafone Egypt showed in 2011.
In 2011, the Egyptian government forced Vodafone to send pro-regime SMS propaganda during the revolution. Vodafone later said it had no legal or practical option but to comply. The article contrasts this with the UK's 2026 wildfire alert, questioning whether networks could refuse to send messages. It explores the tension between building resilient emergency alert systems and preventing abuse, citing Bruce Schneier's concept of 'civic hygiene' from 2010. The author notes that the UK's alert system lacks clear legal compulsion for operators to send messages.
What commenters are saying
A top comment argues the article misses the word 'trust': civil society relies on collective trust that most people act in good faith, and no system can be built to prevent abuse because everything good can be abused. Commenters split on the ideal number of jails and homeless people, with some arguing zero is the ideal goal and others noting that some people refuse help or choose not to live under a roof. The thread also discusses how incentives align with trust in a society.