Outgoing email alleged to be "SPAM": ominous and serious privacy implications

Question

I attempted to send a link to a friend, and Verizon's software prevented me from sending the message, with a message saying "....the mail server responded 5.7.1...determined to be spam."
By using the old standby workaround--guile, trickery and deceit--I was able to convey the info to my intended recipient.
But as I think about it, it's clear that Verizon must be scanning *every* email a customer sends!  What other method could Verizon be using to determine that a messge is objectionable, other than scanning the message?  And if Verizon is doing that, what is it doing with that information?  Is it reporting the info to someone, like CIA or NSA?
Now I'm wondering:  does Verizon maintain a list of "bad" addresses?
The fact that Verizon blocked this URL is additional support for something I noticed long ago:  the folks at Verizon are not too bright. First of all, the target URL contains innocuous, unoffensive information  But even more significant, how could I be attempting to spam someone if I'm sending my message to ONE individual--and at that, an individual who;s a friend, and to whom I've sent hundreds of messages?
(Nor was it easy to find this forum!  But I can see why Verizon would want to keep customers from complaining, when other customers could see that info.)
These Verizon folks are so dumb (this is not the first problem I've had with Verizon) I'm gonna start looking around for  an ISP that's not a "legacy" company, as Verizon is.  

Answer 1

Turtles:
Yes, I'm aware that gazillions of emails are sent daily.  It's also clear that Verizon has software (not humans) that *does* analyze messages you send--I've had the experience a few times now of trying to send innocuous, clearly non-spam messages that Verizon refused to send.
I got around it by finding the part of the message (as I recall, always a URL) that Verizon did not like and altering it in one way or another.
And the dangers are *real*, not imaginary, as you believe.  Clearly, humans have to be involved, and both humans and machines must cope with an extremely large numbero f emails, and "suspects".  We know for a certainty that the . phone companies have coopoerated with CIA and NSA, even without those agencies having to present warrants for their snooping.  And it's equally clear that it's done by computer.  No doubt NSA takes "suspicious" or otherwise flagged messages and looks at, for example, the sender and recipient, and adds those names to a database. 
I would guess that the messages sit in the database until there is a sufficient level of activity to warrant raising an alarm, e.g. a sufficient number of messages to some individual on a watch list.  Then---if I were managing a NSA or CIA effort that examined emails--I would have the software kick out a list of "names to be followed up on", with priorities attached.
I personally am not worried, because anyone reading my messages will go bonkers with boredom in a short period of time.  But clearly the potential exists.  And if you doubt me, then clearly you are not aware of recent US history, e.g. various efforts the Army, FBI, and other agencies mounted decades ago (even opening snailmail!)in which innocent individuals had their privacy seriously invaded, illegally.  I would be happy to give you more details if you wish--details that are a matter of public record.