Emergency Alerts Could Eventually Make Their Way Into Streaming Services

If a government needs a way to reach its citizens, that’s where emergency alerts come in. Take for example where earlier this year, an alert was sent out in which it alerted those living in the US that a missile was inbound to Hawaii. The alert was made in error but it’s an example of how these alerts are used.

However with people starting to tune into streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, how will the government get their message across? Thanks to a new bill that has been introduced, it seems that the government is looking into the idea of inserting emergency alerts into streaming services should there ever be a need for them.

The bill is dubbed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement and was introduced by Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz and South Dakota Senator John Thune. According to Senator Schatz, “When a missile alert went out across Hawai‘i in January, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios. Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert exposed real flaws in the way people receive emergency alerts.”

That being said, it remains to be seen if this bill will eventually become law as there are no doubts quite a few hurdles that it will need to overcome, such as passing through the Senate.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Entertainment, Legal, Netflix, Spotify