Your Tweets Can Make You Be On The ‘No-Fly’ List

If you ‘tweet’, you are one tech savvy person…or should we say, like most of the world out there right now? Everyone tweets, from keeping up with friends to promotion to sharing information. And then you would hear a story about popularity of tweeting. This is one such story. You may already know that one should not talk (or even think) to the person next to them or make comments over the phone about weapons or bombs, especially at an airport or at a security checkpoint. What you may not know is, you should not even make sarcastic comments or jokes about blowing up airports/planes on any social media network, including Twitter.

Mind What You Share On Twitter

Watch What You Tweets

This is what has happened to a fellow Tweep (name withheld). Due to heavy snow, the Doncaster Sheffield Robin Hood Airport in England (what a name eh?) has closed, and of course that meant delays. He had been a bit concerned that this delay would cause his own flight to be delayed for a week. That had made him go straight to Twitter with this comment:

Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your sh*t together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!

Would you call it frustration? dumbness? misguided? funny? or clueless? Which ever it is, this is how British police had responded to his tweet. They had visited Paul Chambers at his home and had arrested him for making a bomb threat! The British police had confiscated his laptop, desktop, phone and his hard drive. That’s not all. He had been convicted for sending an ‘indecent, obscene or menacing‘ message according to the Communication Act, section 127. There’s even more. He was not only convicted but charged a £385 fine, a £15 victims’ surcharge, and another £600 in legal fees. That got to hurt! But one thing for sure – he is one popular fellow on Twitter now!

Next time when you travel, and your flight is delayed or if you’re frustrated with the airline or any combination of that, keep it to yourself. It will surely save you from authorities knocking on your door to worsen your already bad trip.