Employee who sent false alert in Hawaii not cooperating with FCC probe, official says
The employee responsible for sending a false mobile alert across Hawaii warning of an incoming ballistic missile is not cooperating with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigations looking into the matter, an FCC official said Thursday.
Lisa Fowlkes, who heads the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, told lawmakers at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that, while leaders at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency were cooperating with investigators, the employee who sent the notification was not.
“We are quite pleased with the level of cooperation we have received from the leadership of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency thus far,” Fowlkes said.
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“We are disappointed, however, that one key employee, the person who transmitted the false alert, is refusing to cooperate with our investigation,” she added. “We hope that person will reconsider.”
Widespread panic and confusion broke out in Hawaii earlier this month after an alert was sent to mobile devices warning that a ballistic missile was heading toward the state and urging people there to take immediate shelter.
The message, however, was sent in error and was recalled after nearly 40 minutes.
Hawaii officials attributed the false alert to “human error” and insufficient safeguards that would have prevented such a mistake from happening. The episode sparked an FCC investigation and a national discussion about the need to improve alert systems.
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