is a news author covering all things person tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag penning news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the agency volition ballot on November 19th on rules that would authorize prisons to use indication jamming. Radiofrequency jammers are mostly banned under Section 333 and the Communications Act of 1934, alongside few exceptions, and Carr has noted they’ve been permitted for use at several national accommodation already. Carr claims in a declaration that jammers are needed since “For years, thousands upon thousands of contraband cellphones have been flowing into prisons, and several of the worst imaginable offenders have been using them to command hits, coordinate aggressive collection activity, and aid offender enterprises.”
When the FCC approved a draft proposal final year, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez suggested commencement alongside a aviator program to test the implications on surrounding areas, saying, “While the issue we are trying to location is of crucial importance, I concern concerning the possible unintended consequences of permitting jamming by non-federal actors and permitting jamming equipment to formally act the American market.”
Arkansas AG Tim Griffin, who was additionally current for the event anywhere the ballot was announced, and Georgia AG Chris Carr have been among law implementation officials pushing for the change. However, anonymous incarcerated journalists argue that this shove is really a response to their use of phones to allocate “uncensored reports of civic entitlements violations to news media in a timely adequate manner to refuse the innovation of cover-ups.” They specifically cited the 2024 DOJ inquiry into Georgia’s prisons that found “horrific and inhumane conditions” in reply to evidence initially transferred via contraband phones.
The FCC’s recommendation describes how prisons could get licenses to use jamming equipment:
As the Commission takes this historic stage to enhance community safety, eligible entities following either of the two licensing paths volition be topic to specialized standards and evaluation requirements. This includes first evaluation pursuant to an experimental licence to demonstrate that the jamming resolution does not logic harmful interference exterior of the designated geographic areas, as fine as post-license aid evaluation at the topic correctional facility previous to commencement operations.
Jamming may happen lone inside a Commission-authorized “jamming containment area” anywhere wireless equipment procedure is prohibited, and it must not logic harmful interference exterior that area.
Additionally, applicable carriers, FirstNet, community safety coordinators, and 911 authorities would obtain advancement notice of the on-site testing, and nearby communities would obtain notice before deployment.
As Carr’s notice notes, there are additionally legislative attempts to authorize correctional accommodation to use indication jamming technology, akin the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of 2025, introduced final twelvemonth by Arkansas legislator Tom Cotton.
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