Lawmakers Proposes That Streaming Services Broadcast Emergency Alerts

One of the benefits of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon is that you don’t need to deal with ads. This is because while they do sometimes feel like regular television, they are not, and as such, aren’t necessarily subjected to the same requirements of television. This includes broadcasting emergency alerts in the form of Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI).

However, US Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai’i) and John Thune (R-S.D.) have proposed that maybe these streaming services should also be able to broadcast these emergency alerts to ensure that more people are aware of what’s going on, even if they aren’t watching regular television or are listening to radio.

According to Senator Schatz, “When a missile alert went out across Hawai’i last year, 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. Our bill fixes a number of important problems with the system responsible for delivering emergency alerts. In a real emergency, these alerts can save lives so we have to do everything we can to get it right.”

This proposal makes sense, especially with more people starting to subscribe to video streaming services these days. Plus, there are more services that are being planned for launch, such as Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus. Whether or not this will come to pass remains to be seen.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Entertainment, Legal