From the PDF linked in the article, several people were told they could get off the list by becoming informants:
> An FBI agent...told him the only way to get off the No Fly List was to "talk to us."
It is very troubling to me that the government is not merely using the list as a shield to protect a plane by keeping out people who would pose a physical danger to it, but using the denial of air travel as a stick to beat people into informing on others.
To me, this scenario sounds plausible: The government finds people with Islamic names or innocent connections to the Middle East, puts them on the no-fly list and interrogates them whenever they come to the airport. Some of them give in to the government's pressure -- "find us some terrorists or you'll never be able to see your family overseas again" is not an easy offer to refuse.
Of course if the person doesn't know of any actual terrorists, the only to be allowed on the plane would be to make some up, or name innocent people they simply don't like or don't know well.
So basically lots of innocent people get harrassed by the government denying them international travel, while the government wastes investigators' time and taxpayer dollars pursuing entirely fictional leads from informants with no connection to actual terrorists, who just want the government off their backs and are willing to make up tips to accomplish that.
> An FBI agent...told him the only way to get off the No Fly List was to "talk to us."
It is very troubling to me that the government is not merely using the list as a shield to protect a plane by keeping out people who would pose a physical danger to it, but using the denial of air travel as a stick to beat people into informing on others.
To me, this scenario sounds plausible: The government finds people with Islamic names or innocent connections to the Middle East, puts them on the no-fly list and interrogates them whenever they come to the airport. Some of them give in to the government's pressure -- "find us some terrorists or you'll never be able to see your family overseas again" is not an easy offer to refuse.
Of course if the person doesn't know of any actual terrorists, the only to be allowed on the plane would be to make some up, or name innocent people they simply don't like or don't know well.
So basically lots of innocent people get harrassed by the government denying them international travel, while the government wastes investigators' time and taxpayer dollars pursuing entirely fictional leads from informants with no connection to actual terrorists, who just want the government off their backs and are willing to make up tips to accomplish that.