"Do you go camping or play paintball?" and 47 other questions from the FBI's secret terrorist-detection questionnaire

The Intercept "obtained a copy" of the FBI's 48-question, 2015 "Indicators of Mobilization to Violence" protocol, a list of 48 questions that FBI investigators can use to determine if a subject is at risk for committing terrorist acts.


The document is evaluated through undisclosed "statistical methods" that are apparently undergoing refinement, and are only expected to give reliable responses once the FBI has subjected lots of people to its analysis and then figured out which responses actually correlate with terrorism.

In addition to asking whether subjects have fought overseas and bought bomb-making materials, it also asks whether subjects use encryption, use private browsing and other privacy tools, and whether they play paintball, or other "activities that simulate military or operational environments" (including camping trips).


Other questions are far more subjective and deal with the individual's emotional state. For example, the survey asks if the person has changed their appearance or habits, has "experienced a recent personal loss or humiliation," or has a history of mental health problems or substance abuse.

Still other questions gauge ideological leanings. "Does the Subject hold a belief or ideology that supports the use of violence?" Or, "Has the Subject become more extreme in their beliefs?"

While the survey is, in theory, meant to be universal, it contains several references to Islamic terminology and seems to be focused on concerns about Muslim terrorism.

Sahar Aziz, a law professor at Texas A&M University and expert on programs aimed at countering violent extremism, told The Intercept that some of the questions are subject to bias by FBI agents.

Imv Score Final [FBI]

48 QUESTIONS THE FBI USES TO DETERMINE IF SOMEONE IS A LIKELY TERRORIST [Cora Currier and Murtaza Hussain/The Intercept]