WASHINGTON — The set of internal rules used by the federal government in compiling terrorism screening watch lists was made public on Wednesday despite Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s assertion that its disclosure would damage national security.

The procedures for adding names of people deemed to be known or suspected terrorists to various screening lists, known as the “Watchlisting Guidance” and dated March 2013, were obtained by The Intercept, an online magazine best known for publishing top-secret documents leaked by Edward J. Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor. An accompanying article suggested that the document had been provided by an intelligence community source other than Mr. Snowden.

Inclusion on one of the lists can keep people off planes, block noncitizens from entering the United States and subject people to greater scrutiny at airports, border crossings and traffic stops. The basic standards for including someone on the lists had been known from a set of rules the F.B.I. disclosed in 2011 in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, among other sources. But the rules were later updated, and the Watchlisting Guidance contains additional details.

The guidelines explain that the sort of “derogatory information” that could indicate that someone is a terrorist includes “reasonable suspicion” based on credible reporting about behavior like attending a terrorist training camp or a school associated with extremism, or having repeated contacts with known extremists.