Netflix in the US may soon be forced to interrupt your streams with Emergency alerts, like evacuation orders or warnings of military attacks.
Coming to a Netflix screen near you.
It’s part of a new US bill that may force streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify, to alert users when official warnings are sent out.
The bill, which is literally called the READI Bill according to Engadget, was floored by Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz. Earlier this year, his state was sent into shock when a ballistic missile attack alert was sent to mobiles across the state, after someone in charge of the service mistook a military drill for the real thing.
It turns out that the slightly-traumatising experience had the unintended side effect of noticing that not everyone uses technology the same way in 2018. Or as South Dakota Senator John Thune, who co-signed the bill, said, “Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert exposed real flaws in the way people receive emergency alerts.”
While the bill also has other safeguards, like removing opt-outs of emergency alerts, we’re really worried about what precedent this sets. I mean, getting a notification that the world is about to end during a comedy special is one thing.
But during Stranger Things?
An emergency alert would not be the weirdest thing to happen on that show.
Most people would probably just think it’s a part of the show.