By Susan Lunny Keag, Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
N.Y. State Sen. Charles Schumer announced on Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will now be allowed to include embedded URLs, which will lead directly to photos of suspects, in emergency alerts.
The news comes on the heels of the Sept. 17 Chelsea bombing, in which Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) notifications were sent to millions of New Yorkers to help assist in the search for suspect Ahmad Rahami, while he was on the run. The message said to "see media for pic."
The Wireless Emergency Alert System, which was established through the FCC under the WARN Act, is a public safety notification system which delivers geographically targeted message alerts reporting imminent threats to safety or life. There are three types of alerts: 1) alerts issued by the President; 2) alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life (i.e.: evacuation orders, shelter-in-place orders, a terrorist threat); and 3) Amber Alerts for abducted children.
Last week, Schumer urged the FCC to finalize its proposed rules as soon as possible so that WEAs are quickly updated and brought into the 21st century. Schumer also urged the FCC to make sure the use of multimedia images or links were included in the finalized rules.
"The Chelsea terror threat highlighted a major weakness in our Wireless Emergency Alert system when millions of New Yorkers were left with no other option but to 'Google' for more information," Schumer said.
The FCC has also increased the maximum length of messages from 90 to 360 characters, and it has put into place rules for better geographic targeting of notices, so that the right people will see them.
"The FCC is doing the right thing by quickly improving its wireless emergency notification system to match today's technological capacities," said Schumer. "This new revamp means our Wireless Emergency Alert system will finally be as smart as our phones, as it will be able to deliver multimedia messages that may contain information that can save lives."
Schumer said that increasing the number of maximum characters permitted, and allowing for URLs to be embedded, "will make it easier for cellphone users to quickly access critical photos in a high-alert situation."
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "I'm particularly pleased that we were able to answer Senator Schumer's call to expedite enhancements to the system, such as ensuring all alerts will soon be able to include embedded links, so that you will be able to click to see a photo of the missing child, a suspected terrorist, a map or to call authorities."
©2016 Staten Island Advance, N.Y. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
