What Is a Blacklist?
The term blacklist refers to a list of people, organizations, or countries that are shunned or excluded by others because they are alleged to have engaged in unacceptable or unethical behavior or activities. A blacklist is considered retaliatory as it is intended to create financial hardship for those named on the list, These lists can be created by different entities, including governments and individuals. Anyone who appears on a blacklist may be barred from getting funding, doing business, or getting jobs.
Key Takeaways
- A blacklist targets people or entities that are seen as disruptive or undesirable.
- Blacklists aim to isolate those listed and prevent them from doing business effectively.
- Historical blacklists have targeted union organizers and alleged communist sympathizers.
- Modern blacklists are more likely to be databases managed by governments imposing economic sanctions on global bad actors involved in money laundering or drug trafficking.
- Individuals who fear being unfairly blacklisted by employers or creditors may be advised to run a background check on themselves through an online service.
Understanding Blacklists
Blacklisting has a long history and its roots have been traced to as early as the 1610s. People named on a blacklist were deemed to be suspicious in some way and were to be avoided. By the late 19th century the names of workers known to be involved in union organizing were circulated to potential employers on a blacklist. The purpose was not only to punish unionists but to silence them.
In modern times, a blacklist is often used as a tool used by governments to make economic sanctions effective by publicly listing people, organizations, and nations that should be avoided.
A blacklist may also be compiled by any type of organization from a political or religious group to a business or professional association. It might be made public to increase the pressure on those listed or be circulated confidentially to those who might act upon the information, cutting ties to the blacklisted people or businesses.
Special Considerations
A common misconception revolves around the purported existence of a credit blacklist to deny loans to consumers with poor or spotty credit histories. But there is no such list. Every person who ever obtained credit has a credit score on file with up to three major credit reporting agencies. That score falls within a range from very poor to exceptional at repaying debt in the past.
The score determines whether a consumer's application for new credit is approved and what interest rate is applied to the loan. At worst, a person with a very poor credit rating must undergo some credit repair work in order to obtain new credit at a reasonable rate.
Types of Blacklists
Government Blacklists
The U.S. government maintains several lists that could reasonably be called blacklists. They publicly identify individuals or entities that are restricted or banned from conducting business in the U.S. or with U.S. entities. For instance:
- The U.S. Treasury maintains a blacklist of individuals, companies, and other groups who are blocked or prohibited from doing business with U.S. residents and businesses. The people and entities on the list may be associated with a nation or an industry that is sanctioned by the U.S. or may be engaged in terrorist activities or narcotics trafficking. This list is called the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and is available online.
- The U.S. Department of State maintains a blacklist called State Sponsors of Terrorism. The list identifies nations that are prohibited from importing arms or receiving certain types of foreign aid from the U.S. In 2022, the list included Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce maintains The Entity List of individuals, companies, and other organizations that are required to undergo special licensing before exporting or importing products to or from the U.S. These entities are identified as being potentially involved in activities that threaten the national security or foreign policy interests of the U.S.
In the days before electronic databases, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers consulted a printed Black List of Persons Engaged in Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs. This handbook contained photographs and fingerprints of known criminals to keep an eye out for at the borders.
IP Address Blacklists
The IP address blacklist is a network security tool used to block access to or from internet addresses that are deemed problematic. An IP address can wind up on a blacklist because it has hosted unacceptable content, such as p*rnography, or because it contains code that might be harmful or a virus that might spread.
Addresses are also blacklisted to block email deliveries from addresses and domains known to be sources of spam, fraud, or cybercrime. IP address blacklisting is also known as IP blocklisting.
Blacklist vs. Gray List
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publishes both a blacklist and a gray list of countries that don't act effectively to curtail money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Nations on the blacklist are likely to find it difficult to do business with the outside world on any terms. They are likely to face economic sanctions from the 38 member nations of the OECD and their businesses are unlikely to be well received by financial institutions in the member nations. Iran and North Korea are the only two nations named on the blacklist.
The term gray list generally indicates a lesser offense or a less severe punishment than blacklisting. Nations on this list may find it difficult to obtain assistance from organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It has an adverse impact on their standing globally.
The FATF gray list is much longer than the blacklist. It is formally called the High-Risk and Other Monitored Jurisdictions list. The nations on the list are deemed deficient in preventing money laundering or the financing of terrorism but have committed to improvement. In 2022, the gray list contained the names of some 23 nations from Albania to Yemen.
Examples of Blacklists
Whether formal or informal, the blacklist has been used as a weapon against people for a variety of reasons, political and practical. The following are some of the most famous examples of blacklists used across the globe.
Union Supporters Blacklist
It is illegal for a company to blacklist, or refuse to hire, an applicant based on the knowledge or suspicion that they have an affiliation or sympathize with unionization. That law did not exist in the early days of unionization when participants in the labor movement faced retaliation by companies, including blacklisting.
As union membership declined in the past several decades, so did complaints of job candidates blacklisted for their ties to unions. In fact, a study by Work In Progress found that union-affiliated applicants and individuals with no union affiliation were equally likely to get called back for an interview for an entry-level front-line job in Chicago.
It is a violation of federal unfair labor practices law for a union to maintain a blacklist of workers who refuse to join a union.
Communist Blacklist
In the 1930s, membership in the Communist Party was quite fashionable in some circles. By the late 1940s and well into the 1950s, it was considered grossly un-American.
With the Cold War in full swing, a Congressional committee called the House Un-American Activities Committee began investigating the political beliefs of a number of prominent Americans, including those in the entertainment industry. Accusations of subversion and even treason swirled. People who refused to cooperate by naming names were prosecuted and even jailed.
The crusade was taken up in the Senate as well, most notoriously by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the committee he chaired. The focus of the committee was on the alleged infiltration of the U.S. government and military by communists and spies for the Soviet Union. The public hearings, known as the Army-McCarthy hearings, riveted the public.
McCarthy was eventually censured by the Senate for making unfounded public accusations against hundreds of people. By that time, official or unofficial blacklisting had damaged the careers of many of McCarthy's victims.
Dalton Trumbo and Ring Lardner, Jr. were among the writers who were blacklisted after refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Hollywood Blacklist
The House Un-American Activities Committee was particularly focused on rooting out supposed communist sympathizers in the entertainment industry, which then as now was seen as a hotbed of liberalism.
Many of the biggest names in Hollywood were dragged to Washington, where they were grilled on their own political beliefs and those of their friends and associates. Among those who refused to cooperate were those known as the Hollywood 10. These screenwriters and directors went to jail for refusing to testify.
The Hollywood 10 were officially blacklisted. They were banned from employment at the Hollywood studios. The blacklist was not officially lifted until the 1960s, years after the hysteria had died down. Some of the Hollywood 10 continued to work, using pseudonyms.
Huawei
Although most countries have blacklists of organizations and suppliers who are not to be trusted, the threat of blacklisting is usually effective. This is particularly true during international trade squabbles. For example, the U.S. government placed an export ban on China-based Huawei in 2019, leading other nations to also ban Huawei from certain procurement contracts.
China responded by threatening to blacklist all the companies of foreign countries that enacted a Huawei ban. Despite the threats, these types of disputes are often resolved without having entire nations put on blacklists.
Why Is It Called a Blacklist?
People viewed as troublesome or non-conforming have been placed on blacklists, official or unofficial, for centuries. Their names are blackened. They should be avoided and treated as if they did not exist. In practice, blacklisting is an economic punishment meant to exclude the people named from enjoying the benefit of doing business in the community.
What Happens When a Person Is Blacklisted?
Blacklisting is intended to deprive a person of the ability to make a living. Professional ties are cut. The person's reputation and status in the community are damaged. Blacklists may be discredited. The Hollywood 10, blacklisted for refusing to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee, were eventually lionized for their stance.
How Can I Check If I Have Been Blacklisted?
Reports of blacklists, official or unofficial, circulate in most professions. Most are probably untrue. Writing for a resume site, a recruiter maintained that there is no blacklist in her field and no need for one. You're more likely to be sunk by a bad interview or an unfavorable reference than by a blacklist.
Some people fear a less official form of blacklisting if they have left a previous job under a cloud or made enemies along the way. One way to find out if they're right is for them to run a background check on themselves to see if anything negative pops up. Many web-based services are available to do the job.
The Bottom Line
Blacklists are put together by individuals, corporations, and other entities. They group together entities that have or are alleged to engage in unethical behavior or other practices that may be deemed unacceptable. Being put on a blacklist can have serious ramifications. But it can also mean that there needs to be a change in behavior. While it can seem hard to get off a blacklist, it isn't entirely impossible. A country that doesn't foster human rights may be put on a blacklist and be slapped with economic sanctions. If it wants to get off that list, it may succeed by enacting legislation that the global community may come to accept.
FAQs
A blacklist might consist, for example, of a list of names developed by a company that refuses to hire individuals who have been identified as union organizers; a country that seeks to boycott trade with other countries for political reasons; a LABOR UNION that identifies firms with which it will not work; or a ...
What is the history of blacklisting? ›
In the context of the 1940s and 1950s, a blacklist was a list of persons whose opinions or associations were deemed politically inconvenient or commercially troublesome, thereby subjecting them to either difficulty finding work or termination from employment.
What is blacklisting in today's society? ›
The term blacklist refers to a list of people, organizations, or countries that are shunned or excluded by others because they are alleged to have engaged in unacceptable or unethical behavior or activities.
What is the history of the work blacklist? ›
The Hollywood blacklist was instituted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 to block screenwriters and other Hollywood professionals who were purported to have Communist sympathies from obtaining employment.
What is the practice of blacklisting and why would it be used? ›
Blacklisting is the method used by most antivirus programs, intrusion prevention/detection systems and spam filters. Blacklisting works by maintaining a list of applications that are to be denied system access and preventing them from installing or running.
What is blacklisting explained? ›
A blacklist, in IT, is a collection of entities that are blocked from communicating with or logging into a computer, site or network. Blocked entities are typically identified as IP addresses, user IDs, domains, email addresses, MAC addresses or programs.
How many blacklists are there? ›
According to a list in “The Blacklist (Comic)”, the list contains 161 names. This is later shown as 192 names. According to a behind the scenes special for season 4, there will be 200 blacklisters.
When can you blacklist someone? ›
A business that is either a credit provider or prescribed person must give at least 20 business days-notice to the consumer of their intention to submit adverse consumer information, which includes classifications such as “slow-paying”, “default” or “not-contactable”.
What group of people were blacklisted? ›
The blacklist involved the practice of denying employment to entertainment industry professionals believed to be or to have been Communists or sympathizers. Actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals were barred from work by the studios.
What is blacklist in government? ›
countable noun. If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by a government or other organization as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who have done something wrong. A government official disclosed that they were on a secret blacklist.
The consequences of being blacklisted are that credit providers will reject your loan application. In addition, being blacklisted negatively affects your credit score which might prevent you from getting any future credit.
What is public blacklisting? ›
Blacklists are lists of entities or individuals that are considered malicious, untrustworthy, or unacceptable by a particular person or group. To be on a blacklist means that you and anything from you are unwelcome to the recipient, and you are often associated with unethical or illegal practices.
How do people get blacklisted? ›
In employment, a blacklist or blacklisting refers to denying people employment for either political reasons (due to actual or suspected political affiliation), due to a history of trade union activity, or due to a history of whistleblowing, for example on safety or corruption issues.
Do blacklists exist today? ›
Employers blacklist ex-employees for incompetence, insubordination, bad behavior or simply because they don't like them. Recruiters blacklist job seekers for skipping interviews, failing background checks, inflating their qualifications and lying on resumes.
When did blacklisting start? ›
The Hollywood Blacklist came into being in 1947 when the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began to summon certain Hollywood entertainment professionals on the suspicion that their work was communist-inspired.
What are the advantages of blacklisting? ›
The primary advantage of blacklisting is its simplicity. You can exclude known threats from the system and the intelligence lies with the software vendor. Its effectiveness totally depends on how often the vendor releases or updates the known threat database.
How do you prevent blacklisted? ›
How to avoid email blacklists
- Use double opt-in for your email subscribers. ...
- Include an unsubscribe link. ...
- Clean your email lists regularly. ...
- Optimize your email content. ...
- Secure your server. ...
- Avoid manually entering email addresses into your database.
Being blacklisted can make you end up with a negative profile. Professional ties will get cut. The employee's reputation and status in the professional life get damaged. The employee can expect no more job opportunities or positions.
How long does blacklisted last? ›
If you are blacklisted, it will be very difficult to get approved for new credit products. You may also be charged higher interest rates and fees if you are able to get approved. Blacklisting can stay on your credit report for up to seven years, making it hard to rebuild your credit.
What does proof of blacklisting mean? ›
What is a proof of blacklisting? If your phone has been lost or stolen, you would be asked to provide a proof of Blacklisting document. This would confirm that the IMEI number of your lost or stolen device has been blocked on the national database.
The good news is in many cases, blacklists are illegal. The bad news is it isn't illegal in every state in the US. No matter what, it's a highly unethical practice that still goes on, even in states where it's officially illegal to do so. Businesses aren't always content to just fire someone for whistleblowing.
Why do they call it blacklisted? ›
The term blacklist was first used in the early 1600s to describe a list of those who were under suspicion and thus not to be trusted, he explained.
How did you know that you are blacklisted? ›
The information about the blacklisting can be found in your credit profile as held by the Major Credit Bureaus :- Transunion Credit Bureau ; Experian Credit Bureau; Compuscan Credit Bureau and Xds Credit Bureau.
What is a personal blacklist? ›
Website Personal Blacklists or Whitelists are used for your specific website to help you block unwanted users and allow users recognized as spammers, and these lists work for your specific sites only.
Can someone just blacklist you? ›
The term “blacklisted” is widely used in financial sector. Loosely, it used to describe someone who has a bad credit score, signifying a high risk to creditors, and certainly, it was used by credit collectors to try and scare consumers into paying off unpaid debt.
Who ended blacklisting in America? ›
Kirk Douglas, who died Wednesday at age 103, played an instrumental role in helping end the Hollywood blacklist against suspected communist sympathizers, along with the movie director Otto Preminger. Douglas worked to have the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo credited for the 1960 film "Spartacus," in which Douglas starred.
What is the new name for blacklisting? ›
First, there is a diverse set of new names in the wild for “blacklist” alternatives, such as blocklist, denylist, reject list, droplist, exclude list (the list goes on). Looking at alternative terms for whitelist, we've seen the following: allowlist, safelist, accept list, Welcome List, etc.
What is the new name for blacklisted? ›
GitHub announced that it would replace many "terms that may be offensive to developers in the black community". Apple Inc. announced at its developer conference that it would be adopting more inclusive technical language and replacing the term "blacklist" with "deny list" and the term "whitelist" with "allow list".
Who can be blacklisted? ›
The term blacklisted is quite general and can apply to a number of situations a credit consumer would find themselves in. It could be related to having an account in arrears or possibly having a judgment against you.
What countries are on the blacklist? ›
Current FATF blacklist
- North Korea.
- Iran.
- Myanmar.
The information about the blacklisting can be found in your credit profile as held by the Major Credit Bureaus :- Transunion Credit Bureau ; Experian Credit Bureau; Compuscan Credit Bureau and Xds Credit Bureau.
How do you blacklist someone? ›
A business that is either a credit provider or prescribed person must give at least 20 business days-notice to the consumer of their intention to submit adverse consumer information, which includes classifications such as “slow-paying”, “default” or “not-contactable”.
How do you know if you are being blacklisted? ›
Ways to check if you're on a blacklist
- Hire a company to check what your references and prior employers are saying. ...
- Speak with your previous manager to find out if you're on the company's do not rehire list. ...
- Speak with the recruiting firms you have worked with.
The consequences of being blacklisted are that credit providers will reject your loan application. In addition, being blacklisted negatively affects your credit score which might prevent you from getting any future credit.
How long does a person stay blacklisted? ›
A judgement against you will remain on your credit profile for 5 years but under the court of law for 30 years. Don't let these disadvantages of being blacklisted affect you more, than it has to.
How many years are you blacklisted for? ›
You have defaulted on an account
If a debt cannot be recovered many lenders sell the account to a debt collection agency. This will show negatively on your credit file and will remain on it for a period of six years from the default date, regardless of any settlement.
What is the difference between blacklisted and blocked? ›
They are different; call blocking lets a telephone user block incoming calls from telephone numbers. Conversely, a blacklisting number is an index to the phone number you want to receive incoming calls.
How does blacklisting last? ›
If you are blacklisted, it will be very difficult to get approved for new credit products. You may also be charged higher interest rates and fees if you are able to get approved. Blacklisting can stay on your credit report for up to seven years, making it hard to rebuild your credit.
What are the dangers of being blacklisted? ›
Being blacklisted can have a very bad effect on your life. If you are blacklisted you will probably find it very difficult to buy anything on credit or get any type of finance. It might even be difficult to open a bank account or get a job if you have a poor credit record.
How do I remove myself from blacklisted? ›
How do I clear my name from being Blacklisted?
- Apply for Debt Counselling with The National Debt Review Center. or.
- Pay and close your outstanding debt.
- Check your credit report from all major credit bureaus and dispute any wrongfully listed information.
- Get an attorney or Debt Counsellor.
Theoretically, you should not be able to be blacklisted without being aware of it but it can and does happen. In order to ensure you are not blacklisted, it is important to check.
Can a blacklisted person get a job? ›
Being blacklisted will decrease your chances to get a new job. Especially when you work through traditional recruitment agencies. They check your credit report before they recommend you to possible employers. Some agencies have denied job applications when people are blacklisted.
What does it mean to be blacklisted by the government? ›
countable noun. If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by a government or other organization as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who have done something wrong. A government official disclosed that they were on a secret blacklist.
