October 4th Emergency Alert Test

Overview

October 4th Emergency Alert Test or Oct. 4 FEMA Emergency Alert refers to discussions, memes and other posts about a nationwide emergency alert test set to be issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on October 4th, 2023, across the United States. Leading up to the test, conspiracy theories (such as the Marburg Virus) about the alert began to make the rounds on the internet after the scheduled test was announced in August two months prior, with AP news debunking theories about the alert activating "graphene oxide nanoparticles" in September 2023.

Background

On August 3rd, 2023, FEMA announced in a press release (titled "FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023") that it, in coordination with the FCC, would be conducting a nationwide test of its Emergency Alert System, as well as its Wireless Emergency Alerts. This alert will affect "all consumer cell phones," causing them to emit the routine emergency alert audio tone and display a message in either English or Spanish.^[1]

Online Reactions

Word of the nationwide emergency alert test spread online throughout August and September 2023, sparking considerable discourse on social media. For example, Redditor /u/neolithique posted screenshots of Facebook users panicking about the October 4th alert to the /r/insanepeoplefacebook subreddit on September 21st, 2023,^[9] gathering over 800 upvotes in a week (seen below).

On October 2nd, 2023, X user @jillybobww shared news about the alert, adding that "Abused individuals sometimes keep secret phones as a lifeline. It's important they know about this." The post gathered over 4,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Entertainment news site Dexerto covered the story as well that day, gathering over 80,000 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).

Various X users also reposted clips from a sermon issued by Hawaiian pastor JD Farag^[10] in which he implies that the October 4th emergency alert is indicative of a planned crisis (seen below).

Memes referencing the test began appearing online in early October 2023 as the date drew closer. One such example was posted on October 2nd by Redditor /u/HospitalTop5403 to the /r/memes^[11] subreddit using the Annoyed Bird meme, receiving over 350 upvotes in 15 hours (seen below).

Conspiracy Theories

People began sharing conspiracy theories and expressing suspicion towards the scheduled October 4th alert test in the weeks following the announcement in August 2023. For example, TikToker^[2] @hypsy217 posted a clip from the Simpsons on September 22nd, 2023, gathering over 690,000 plays and 24,000 likes in over a week (seen below, left).

The clip was then edited and reposted by TikToker^[3] @ambitious909 on the same day, gathering over 700,000 plays and 22,000 likes in over a week (seen below, right).

Also on September 22nd, TikToker^[4] @lordleyo shared a conspiracy theory about "graphene oxide" nanoparticles in phones being activated by the emergency alert. The post gathered over 50,000 plays and 2,000 likes in a week (seen below, left). TikToker^[5] @rootedsparrows posted a video showing how to possibly turn off such nationwide alerts on September 29th, gathering 85,000 plays in four days (seen below, right).

The Associated Press^[6] published an article debunking conspiracy theories about the emergency alert "activating" supposed "graphite oxide nanoparticles" in the bloodstream on September 26th, 2023, after the theory spread online.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References