In an effort to ensure that emergency alerts are accessible to diverse linguistic communities, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, alongside a coalition that includes 18 other attorneys general and New York City, has called upon the FCC to act on its own rule—a rule aimed to increase the reach of critical emergency alerts to non-English speakers. According to a report by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, this comes after the FCC has seemingly dragged its feet, neglecting to publish an already approved rule that would expand the language accessibility of emergency alerts sent through mobile devices.
The FCC's Multilingual Alerts Order, adopted unanimously in January 2025, was designed to swiftly bring to bear emergency alerts in 13 additional languages and American Sign Language (ASL). Despite the rule's approval nearly ten months ago, it has yet to be officially published in the Federal Register. This delay by the FCC means to effectively postpone the modernization of the emergency alert system, as wireless carriers are not triggered to update their systems until the rule is published.
These emergency alerts, which inform the public of imminent threats including severe weather and public safety emergencies, have historically been predominantly in English, with a recent extension into Spanish. The expansion to include more languages is a step recognized by many to be crucial for the safety of non-English speaking communities. "Emergency alerts are designed to reach and protect all members of our communities, and they are only truly effective when they reach people in the languages they understand," Nessel said, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
