This week’s “Around the Commercial Drone Industry” news round-up explores the latest developments concerning a possible DJI ban, official action on those mysterious drone sightings, and research into social media reactions to recent drone news.

DJI Ban Update: Senate Passes FY25 National Defense Authorization Act

Last week, the US Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025. As explained in Dronelife, the NDAA contains provisions that mandate risk reviews of Chinese-made drones, including those by DJI and Autel. These reviews could result in “these drones being added to the FCC’s Covered List if they are deemed a national security risk. That would mean that new drone models could not use FCC bandwidth for communications.”

The Senate’s passage of the NDAA, which now awaits President Biden’s signature, comes at a time when the use of drones in the US is expanding, and the implications of ban could be profound. ABC News reports that a ban on Chinese-made UAVs “could disrupt wide-ranging operations, from law enforcement to mapping and filmmaking that drone operators say are viable because of the low cost and high performance of the Chinese drones.” 

Government Agencies Address Mysterious Drone Sightings

Responding to public concern over mysterious drone sightings in the northeastern US, “The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily banned drone use over some sites in New York City on Friday, following similar restrictions over nearly two dozen communities across New Jersey,” according to NBC News. Moreover, a report by NBC Chicago stated that “the FBI and New Jersey state police warned against pointing lasers at suspected drones, because aircraft pilots are being hit in the eyes more often. Authorities also said they are concerned people might fire weapons at manned aircraft that they have mistaken for drones.”

On Capitol Hill last week, the House Intelligence Committee heard testimony from law enforcement and intelligence leaders. The Hill reported that lawmakers were assured that federal agencies were taking the matter seriously. In addition, a joint statement from the FBI, DHS and the Department of Defense was issued last week “asserting the sightings were a mix of drones and aircraft that don’t present a public safety concern.”

Research Reveals Fear of Drones on Social Media

Responding to strong public interest in the mysterious northeastern drone sightings, researchers from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a study revealing that “the number one emotion social media users have when discussing the phenomenon is fear.” The investigators looked at some 170,000 social media posts concerning the drone activity and found that the most popular emotions expressed were fear (45%), disgust (28%), anger (15%), sadness (7%), joy (4%) and surprise (1%). They also found that “Search activity for the word ‘drone’ has increased by 1900% from the period before the first wave of mass drone sightings in New Jersey.”