Hawaii Governor: I Couldn't Tell Public About False Missile Alert Because I Didn't Know My Twitter Password

By Brett Samuels, The Hill

23 January 18

awaii Gov. David Ige (D) on Monday revealed he was unable to move more quickly to correct a false missile threat earlier this month because he didn’t know his Twitter log-in information.

“I have to confess that I don’t know my Twitter account log-ons and the passwords, so certainly that’s one of the changes I’ve made,” Ige told reporters, according to The Washington Post.

Ige said he’s saved his Twitter information on his cellphone in an effort to avoid similar problems in the future.

Hawaiian residents received an alert the morning of Jan. 13 that warned of an incoming ballistic missile. The message was mistakenly sent out because an employee pushed the wrong button during a shift change.

While many lawmakers took to social media to inform residents of the false alert, it took 38 minutes for officials to send out a corrected alert, prompting widespread panic.

Ige was notified within minutes the alert was a mistake, but took 17 minutes before sharing that information on Twitter, The Washington Post reported. 

“I was in the process of making calls to the leadership team both in Hawaii Emergency Management as well as others. The focus really was trying to get as many people informed about the fact that it was a false alert,” Ige said.

The Federal Communications Commission and lawmakers have vowed to look into how the false alert was sent.