Media Contact: 
Tina Pelkey, (202) 418-0536
tina.pelkey@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
STATEMENT OF FCC CHAIRMAN PAI ON
FALSE EMERGENCY ALERT IN HAWAII
-- 
WASHINGTON, January 14, 2018—Yesterday, a false alert of an imminent missile attack was 
broadcast to the homes and cellphones of the residents of Hawaii using the Emergency Alert 
System and Wireless Emergency Alerts.  These public/private partnerships allow federal, state, 
and local officials (in this case, Hawaii state authorities) to send alerts regarding public safety 
emergencies.  Chairman Pai issued the following statement:
“The false emergency alert sent yesterday in Hawaii was absolutely unacceptable.  It caused a 
wave of panic across the state—worsened by the 38-minute delay before a correction alert was 
issued.  Moreover, false alerts undermine public confidence in the alerting system and thus 
reduce their effectiveness during real emergencies.
“The FCC’s investigation into this incident is well underway.  We have been in close contact 
with federal and state officials, gathering the facts about how this false alert was issued.  Based 
on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of Hawaii did not 
have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false 
alert.
“Moving forward, we will focus on what steps need to be taken to prevent a similar incident 
from happening again.  Federal, state, and local officials throughout the country need to work 
together to identify any vulnerabilities to false alerts and do what’s necessary to fix them.  We 
also must ensure that corrections are issued immediately in the event that a false alert does go 
out.”
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Office of Chairman Ajit Pai: (202) 418-2000
Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
www.fcc.gov/leadership/ajit-pai
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order 
constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).