Earlier this year, the people of Hawaii received an emergency alert on their phone. This alert read:
Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL
As you can probably now tell, a missile did not hit Hawaii in January 2018. This message, which explicitly said was “not a drill,” indeed turned out to be just that: a drill. The test message was mistakenly sent out as an actual emergency alert. However, at the time, it took nearly 40 minutes for officials to issue a correction about the alert, sending pretty much everyone on the island in a confused state of panic.
SEE ALSO:FCC may soon charge you $225 to investigate your complaintIn response to the false alarm in Hawaii, which occurred when a state emergency employee hit the wrong option on a drop-down menu, the FCC is taking steps to make the Emergency Alert System more reliable.
Local and state officials will now be able to carry out “live code” tests of the Emergency Alert System. This would allow tests to be conducted with all the alert protocols and sounds of an actual alert, but fully planned, labeled as a test, and with prior notifications of the test for the general public.
The FCC also unveiled that public service announcements about the Emergency Alert System will now present itself as an actual emergency alert. With these new procedures, it looks like the Commission is making moves to normalize these alerts so tests can be carried out without the worry of an error leading to a widespread panic.
In their announcement, the FCC also outlines the processes that need to be taken and requires the Commission to be contacted, in the event that another false emergency alert is sent out.
These changes to the Emergency Alert System look like they could be helpful in preventing the next false “there is a missile about to hit your state” alarm. However, these FCC updates don’t really seem to prevent what actually caused the Hawaii panic in the first place: human error thanks to bad user interface.
TopicsFCCPolitics
(责任编辑：焦點)
Slack goes down again, prompting anxiety everywhere
10 'Gilmore Girls' trailer moments we need to talk about right now
Hilary Duff and her boyfriend apologize for their offensive Halloween costumes
Couple invites black metal band to join their engagement photos
This 'sh*tpost' bot makes terrible memes so you don't have toTesla's rumored P100D could make Ludicrous mode even more Ludicrous
A Tesla Model S P100D begs the question: What's more Ludicrous than Ludicrous?Right now, the biggest
...[详细]Watch an NFL official awkwardly kick a dildo off the football field
The funniest part of this whole incident: the sportscasters initially thought it was a penalty flag.
...[详细]Europe's Mars lander is lost on the red planet
Mars is a cruel place, and it seems like it has claimed another victim.The Schiaparelli lander, part
...[详细]
The premiere Counter-Strike: Global Offensivetournament DreamHack Masters is returning in 2017, and
...[详细]Chinese gymnastics team horrifies crowd with human jump rope
Awesome. Also, ouch. 。The Chinese acrobatic team wowed and horrified the crowd at the Rio Olympic gym
...[详细]Canadian chef's upscale version of Hainan chicken rice outrages Asians
Heavily tattooed Canadian chef Matty Matheson has come to be known for his "how to" recipe hacks for
...[详细]Copenhagen turns their frustrations with Trump into a genius bus ad
The fear of a Donald Trump presidency is not only affecting people in America – it has officia
...[详细]Eminem's new track, 'Campaign Speech,' calls out Donald Trump and everything else
Eminem is happy to acknowledge that he's not a great dude, as long as people remember that he's not
...[详细]Aly Raisman catches Simone Biles napping on a plane like a champion
Simone Biles is exhausted. She won five medals at the Summer Olympics in Rio, posed for selfies with
...[详细]Trump confuses ISIS with Saudi Arabia at debate
Donald Trump made a blunder during the final presidential debate Wednesday, apparently confusing the
...[详细]This weird squid looks like it has googly eyes, guys
How Singapore companies are offering apartment viewings in VR
