FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes

In January, the state of Hawaii mistakenly warned the public of an imminent missile attack by issuing a false alert to televisions, radios, and wireless phones. My team recently completed an investigation into the incident—an alerting drill gone awry—and we’ll be partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on additional outreach to help stakeholders better understand the capabilities of the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts.

The false alert issued on January 13th by the State of Hawaii, in which recipients were warned of an imminent ballistic missile attack, was absolutely unacceptable. The Federal Communications Commission acted swiftly in the wake of this incident to open an investigation into the matter.