No-Fly criteria: Anybody know?

Ive been searching and searching around for information about the 'no-fly' blacklist that seems to include, I believe it was, over 1 million people, including political activists. So if 1 out of every 300 americans is on the list, just what is the criteria for being included on it? I cannot find it anywhere. I am almost certain I am on it, but the FBI website says they wont disclose who is on the list. Can anybody enlighten me?

The so-called "No-Fly List" is classified I believe. However, it's not so much a list of people actually barred from flying but people whom the government takes an interest in when they fly. While there are some people on the list that are not allowed to board aircraft, most of these people are wanted for some reason or another. The majority of the people are in some way of-interest. This also includes many people within the US government, such as researchers on sensitive subjects and even, in the case of Ted Kennedy (which got much media attention), political officials.

It's for this reason that many people such as alternative-news reporters and conspiracy researchers are still allowed to fly, but may be taken interest in when going though checkpoints and such.

reply to post by Xavialune


What did you do that got you on the no-fly list? Just curious as to what a person like you would have do to join the ranks.

The no-fly list is not exactly classified but it is sensitive and not for public release. The people on the list have been flagged by the government as those meriting special attention by authorities when flying. Some are those that have criminal records, some outstanding warrants, some court-ordered travel prohibitions, and some are those who names have been associated with terrorist activities. The last are those we are most concerned about, as they may pose physical threat to other travellers.

As mentioned above, sometimes those denied flying are victims of mistaken identity, such as Ted Kennedy who shares the same name as a reported IRA terrorists. Others, say Usamil Ibn Ladin, may simply have an anglicized name that translates too close to someone who is a wanted. There have been many cases like this.

Finally the list contains mostly non-Americans, so any attempt to assign a percentage of Americans on the list is remiss.

Oh hm. Well I was under the impression that political activists were on the list, and I didnt know how far-reaching that was. I was thinking more in terms of big brother and being monitored by what you post, sites you visit, your actions, etc. Being dubbed a political adversary I guess? I was under the impression that the criteria for being a terrorist was very far reaching and could include a lot of people, including perhaps myself by the sites I got to and participating in protests and such.

reply to post by Xavialune


Probably not actually. One of the things that a lot of people in this and other conspiracy groups are guilty of is paranoia. By itself it's not a bad thing usually to be wary and questioning of what is going on in the world but a lot of people convince themselves that absolutely everything is part of the dark world.

While it is very easy for the government to watch a website and not too hard to track whom some of the users of it are, it's also a matter of man-hours and risk-assessment. The government uses the idea of the Panopticon. The basic idea is that people will behave because they could be under watch, regardless as to weather they are or not.

It's the same reason that people generally do not break the law regularly. There are not nearly enough police to be everywhere all of the time, but we've made it so that when in public, there is always the chance that a cop is watching, so people behave.

Are you, Mr. John A. American, on the list if you post on a conspiracy website? Probably not, Big Brother probably doesn't really think you're worth his time. Now if you got a job working at say Los Alamos, or became the Imam of a fundamentalist Islamic Mosque, then yes, you'd most likely be on the list.

Hah..well that makes sense. I was supposed to fly to NYC last week and might do so sometime in the near future. Yeah, this site definitely makes me more paranoid. I have to take breaks from it sometimes lol Good to know, but when flying I'll probably be taken aside/searched for the way I look anyway..

speaking of that, I wonder why my avatar isnt showing up?

[edit on 4-5-2009 by Xavialune]