On one typical Saturday morning in January 2018, in the state of Hawaii, everything seemed normal. But then, citizens received a very alarming message. Allegedly, there's a ballistic missile threat targeting the state.
In the emergency message, which was aired on TV, radio, and was sent to phones, people were advised to find appropriate shelter from the oncoming missile attack. "This is not a drill," read the message.
For the next half hour, panic ensued. People started calling loved ones, fearing that it might be their last chance to speak. A man suffers a heart attack, surprised by the news. Many believed that they were about to die.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm. The emergency message was the result of miscommunication at the state's emergency management agency. Governor David Ige would appear publicly to apologize for the incident. Everyone's safe, and there was nothing to worry about.
Inspired Action
This incident is what moved US senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and John Thune of South Dakota to file the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act, aptly named READI.
The bill will require internet streaming services like Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others to display emergency messages in times of disaster or calamity. It will also make it illegal for citizens to opt-out of federal emergency alerts on their phones. To top it all off, the bill will require alerts from the President of the United States and Federal Emergency Management Agency to be repeated.
Currently, TV and radio emergency alerts are only required to be aired once.
READI aims to improve the reach of government emergency messages, as the older media currently being used isn't a reliable way to reach people anymore.
Senator Schatz says of the bill, "When a missile alert went out across Hawaii last year, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios."
Even though the alarm turned out to be false, Schatz says, the incident still revealed a flaw in the way emergency alerts are delivered in the US.
The bill is also likely to pass, as it has bipartisan support and has an equivalent bill lined up in Congress.
Getting on with the times
This move would appear to be a timely evolution of current emergency alert standards.
A study last March showed that more Americans now prefer internet streaming services compared to cable TV.
The study found that 69% of consumers are subscribed to at least one internet streaming services. This is slightly higher than 65% of the population that pays for cable TV.
This trend is likely to continue. The same study showed that more than 80% of Millennials and Gen Zs surveyed subscribe to internet streaming services. For the same group, only around half of them are still subscribed to cable TV.
If this trend continues, then the proposed bill could indeed reach more people than what the current methods could.
However, the growing number of streaming services may deter consumers from subscribing. As more platforms emerge requiring consumers to subscribe to more services, consumers might revert to the traditional TV.
