Pai
The precise details of how a false Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) activation warned HAWAIIANS that they were under a missile attack on SATURDAY morning (1/13) remain unclear, but FCC Chairman AJIT PAI is weighing in with a statement ripping state officials for the incident.
PAI wrote, “The false emergency alert sent yesterday in HAWAII was absolutely unacceptable. It caused a wave of panic across the state — worsened by the 38-minute delay before a correction alert was issued. Moreover, false alerts undermine public confidence in the alerting system and thus reduce their effectiveness during real emergencies. The FCC’s investigation into this incident is well underway. We have been in close contact with federal and state officials, gathering the facts about how this false alert was issued. Based on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of HAWAII did not have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false alert. Moving forward, we will focus on what steps need to be taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again. Federal, state, and local officials throughout the country need to work together to identify any vulnerabilities to false alerts and do what’s necessary to fix them. We also must ensure that corrections are issued immediately in the event that a false alert does go out.”
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.allaccess.com