I note that some observers are questioning whether Mastodon would be a practical place for government agencies to issue emergency alerts and other information, when they've been using Twitter currently for these purposes.

This is a completely valid question. But I urge that it be considered in the context of the fact that #Twitter is now totally controlled by a chaotic individual who could change the operational rules of Twitter at any time, for any reason, or even shut it all down entirely with no advanced notice (assuming it doesn't collapse for other reasons), and who has not shown significant interest in such public affairs, only his own.

@lauren Yeah, it's clear that Twitter is definitely not suited as the *only* channel.

IMO using an open setup like what Mastodon uses under the hood is ideal for public announcements, since it can be consumed by anyone / any service (nit: could be, but it currently isn't consumed by the majority).

Ultimately, they could also use a blog with RSS.