The FCC has adopted rules to improve the way the public receives emergency alerts on radios, televisions, and mobile phones, by ensuring that alerts reach more people, allowing government agencies to report false alerts, and enhancing the way states plan for emergency alerts. The adopted Report and Order would: (1) combine “Presidential Alerts” with alerts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a new alert class called “National Alerts;” (2) encourage states to create State Emergency Communications Committees to assist in the oversight of state-level emergency alerting; (3) recommend information that states should incorporate into Emergency Alert System plans; (4) indicate that government agencies can notify the FCC’s Operations Center about false emergency alerts; and (5) clarify how alert creators can repeat their alert messages.
