Anatel reinforces that alert sent with the message 'misanthropy' was not issued by authorities

Residents of several states in Brazil receive false alert from Civil Defense The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) released a note, this Saturday morning (20), to reinforce that the extreme alert messages received by mobile phone users during the early hours were not issued by the authorities responsible for the population warning system. The Anatel note was released after the Defesa Civil Alerta (Civil Defense Alert) submission platform suffered an invasion and sent notifications to cell phones in at least seven states in the early hours of this Saturday. The false alert message sent contained the word "misanthropy," which means aversion or rejection of humanity. According to the Ministry of Integration and Regional Development, due to the invasion, the submission platform was taken offline around 1:30 AM. The Ministry of Integration itself had already informed that the message was sent by someone outside the National Civil Protection and Defense System.

The ministry said it will call the Federal Police to investigate the episode. Anatel coordinates the integration between the alert system and mobile operators. In a note, Anatel explained how the system works: the alerts forwarded by mobile phone operators, using Cell Broadcast technology, originate exclusively from the Civil Defense platform.

According to Anatel, it is up to the operators only to transmit the communications to the geographic areas previously defined by security and civil protection authorities. "The Agency reinforces the relevance of the Cell Broadcast alert system, capable of fulfilling its purpose of supporting disaster prevention and response actions, contributing to the protection of the population and the preservation of lives," stated Anatel in the statement. The Civil Defense has already informed that it is investigating what happened and taking the appropriate measures to identify the circumstances and the origin of the alert transmission during the early hours. Civil Defense alert with the word "misanthropy" rang on the cell phones of residents of Campo Grande. Reproduction.