U.S. delays rollout of presidential emergency text alert

The Trump administration has delayed plans to roll out a presidential text alert system that could be used to reach all U.S. cellphones during national emergencies until October, Reuters’ David Shepardson reports.

Why it matters: This comes amid backlash over the announced test, given the substance of the text is at the discretion of the president and the system doesn’t offer an option to opt-out. Some critics have said they plan to turn their phones off in protest over concern that the president could overuse or abuse the alert to send political messages.