On February 28, 2025, the FCC released a Seventh Report and Order and Eleventh Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). WEAs are emergency alerts delivered to mobile devices of people within the United States. WEAs are currently sent with an audio attention signal and vibration cadence, which can sometimes be unexpected and jarring, causing some consumers to experience alert fatigue and opt out of receiving future WEA messages. In the Report and Order, the FCC adopted rules to allow alert originators the option of sending “silent alerts” that do not trigger WEA’s audio attention signal, vibration cadence, or both. Sending silent alerts gives alert originators more flexibility in sending alerts, for example, during an active shooter situation or for a missing person alert sent at night.
The new rules also allow users, including those with disabilities, to override the silent alert and activate the vibration cadence to ensure that they know their device has received the message.
Compliance with these requirements will be required 36 months after publication of the Seventh Report and Order in the Federal Register.
In addition, the FCC adopted a requirement that any device marketed as a “WEA-capable mobile device” must adhere to the full suite of current WEA capabilities, including the capability to receive silent alerts and override a silent alert to activate the vibration cadence. This requirement will become effective 180 days after publication in the Federal Register.
In the NPRM, the FCC seeks comment on whether users of WEA-capable mobile devices should be allowed to further customize their receipt of WEA messages, for example, to have greater flexibility to silence the attention signal or vibration cadence for certain classes of WEAs, and what additional steps the FCC can take to reduce the rate at which wireless subscribers opt out of WEAs.
Link to the Seventh Report and Order and Eleventh Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-makes-weas-more-responsive-public-safety-and-consumer-needs
Additional information about WEA accessibility is available at https://www.fcc.gov/wea-accessibility. For questions regarding the new rules, contact David Kirschner, Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 418-0695 or David.Kirschner@fcc.gov. Individuals who use videophones and are fluent in American Sign Language may call the FCC’s ASL Consumer Support Line at (844) 432-2275 (videophone).