Scanners have gotten better recently, meaning they can tell the difference between water and explosives, but these restrictions weren’t pulled out of thin air like many others.
That doesn’t mean it’s not still a show. In the 2010s (forget when exactly) the TSA was tested with fake bombs and let them through 49/50 times. They have never successfully stopped a terrorist attack either afaik.
Scanners have gotten better recently, meaning they can tell the difference between water and explosives, but these restrictions weren’t pulled out of thin air like many others.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_repercussions_due_to_the_2006_transatlantic_aircraft_plot
There was a thwarted terrorist plot to use drink bottles to hold explosives.
That doesn’t mean it’s not still a show. In the 2010s (forget when exactly) the TSA was tested with fake bombs and let them through 49/50 times. They have never successfully stopped a terrorist attack either afaik.