back to article Visiting students can't hide social media accounts from Uncle Sam anymore

The US State Department last week said foreign nationals seeking to study in the US must make their social media profiles public, prompting some students to delete their social media posts. "Every visa adjudication is a national security decision," the State Department said, adding that under the new guidance, the online …

  1. Jim Mitchell

    Doesn't Thailand jail critics of the monarch?

    1. lotus123

      Yeah, what an oversight, we should do the same

    2. Wexford

      That's what you think the US should aspire to?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        No.

        We should shoot them. We're good at that.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: No.

          Really? So far people have tried to get Chump twice, and failed both times.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: No.

            "Really? So far people have tried to get Chump twice, and failed both times."

            The second amendment while construed as to give every American the right to bear arms doesn't explicitly require those so bearing to be able to shoot straight.

            At least in Ye Olde England the King's subjects were required to practise archery at the butts with their long bows every Sunday.

            1. Jedit Silver badge
              Joke

              "the King's subjects were required to practise archery at the butts"

              And the kings were a bit more polite as a result. Nobody wants an arrow in the butt.

  2. dsch

    "Nojeim said we should not worry about allowing people with different political views into the country, noting that the screening criteria in the State Department cable could be interpreted to deny US entry to people who criticize President Trump."

    "Could be interpreted"? There was already that French scientist who was deported for criticising Trump's gutting of research funding in private messages. It's interesting to watch the American mainstream media talk about the "risk" of "sliding into" authoritarianism. Wake up, you're already living under an authoritarian regime.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Was that the French scientist who had controlled data (which he was allowed to view but not transport outside of a government facility, much less on an insecure device) on his phone?

      1. Potemkine! Silver badge
        Mushroom

        Because DHS is soooo credible.

        And so was this French lawmaker ?

        Wake up, the fascist state is coming in place in the US, a country I will be glad not to visit anymore. I don't travel in autocracies.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          The scientist in question admitted to having the documents, he just denied that his violation of the law was the cause.

      2. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
        Facepalm

        I suspect you're thinking of that former government official of German heritage who had stacks of classified papers at his Florida home years after leaving office.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Yes, Trump and Biden have both also mishandled classified documents when out of office. Does that have any impact on whether or not said French scientist was caught doing the same?

    2. breakfast Silver badge
      Facepalm

      See also the Norwegian who was barred entry to the US because he had a meme of bald JD Vance on his phone.

      The meme is very funny and since the incident it has been all over the news in much of Europe, so at least there's that.

      It will be interesting how this affects tourism, which has historically been an important source of income for some parts of the country.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        If there's a kernel of truth to the (so far relatively quiet) stories in the media and on the 'net, then it's having quite an effect, booking numbers are down several percent already and it's expected to get worse because there will be people who booked prior to King Donald of Orange's regin began and can't cancel without significant financial penalty

        1. MJI Silver badge

          People booked when it was thought taco was banned from standing.

          Would lose money.

      2. werdsmith Silver badge

        If I was to go to the USA today I wouldn’t be able to show any social media activity because I have none. Perhaps they wouldn’t believe it?

        1. Graham Cobb

          Does The Register count?

          1. Jedit Silver badge
            Devil

            The Register is antisocial media.

          2. werdsmith Silver badge

            I don’t get to choose the subject of the discussions or create content, nor do I get to decide which other users I see in my “feed”. So a website with opportunities to add comments is not social media.

            In fact, GitHub is closer to being social media than this website.

          3. flayman

            Social media needs to be within one's control. The Register does not count as social media because the poster has no control over their posts after the first 10 minutes. You can only withdraw a comment so that it becomes private, but it's still there. If someone logged in as you, they would be able to see any comment you have ever made. So a visitor cannot be compelled to give details about their pseudo-anonymous El Reg accounts. The State Department might still be able to work it out if you're not careful. You can also delete your account, but I'm fairly certain the comments would remain under the guise of a deleted account.

  3. The Central Scrutinizer Silver badge

    Already living under an authorization regime.

    Exactly, except for some stupid reason the media seems to be in total denial.

    It's the old "that could never happen here" syndrome.

    They need to watch some documentaries about 1930s Germany.

    1. lglethal Silver badge
      Joke

      Joke time

      Why does Trump want regime change in Iran?

      He doesnt want the competition when he declares the USA is now a Theocracy...

    2. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
      Terminator

      The "stupid reason" that the media is in denial is simply because they're owned and controlled by the party.

    3. codejunky Silver badge

      @The Central Scrutinizer

      "Exactly, except for some stupid reason the media seems to be in total denial."

      It isnt denial it is participation. Look at how willingly they pick and choose what to report and how the narrative changes only when the accepted narrative changes. As I have quoted before- “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”.

      Add years of open borders with known terrorists entering the country, sanctuary cities and anti America officials vs heavy handed reactions like this. There is a lot of damage to undo in the US, they are still getting leaks from anonymous and untrusted of partial low confidence reports and spewing it as fact. That is not denial but outright mouthpiece.

  4. Tron Silver badge

    You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

    The US is a place to avoid now, for students, tourists, business and investment.

    US colleges, ones that haven't been taken down by Trump, may have, or can implement campuses for foreign students, outside the US, if they want to, to avoid subjecting young people to potential imprisonment by jackbooted border guards loyal to the orangenführer. Other colleges in other countries are available, but expect some to copy the US, also becoming places to avoid.

    Lots of places were nice once, but now are not. It happens.

    1. cornetman Silver badge

      Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

      > You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

      It is pretty much a rite of passage for many students to get to college, think that the whole country is f*cked and demand it be turned into some kind of socialist "utopia", graduate, grow up, get a job, start to earn money then realise that they actually would quite like to keep their hard-earned cash, thank you very much.

      Real life has that effect.

      Yes, it has always been thus. What is different, now, is that the people supposedly in charge of these places don't have sufficient backbone to be the adults and they indulge their misguided fantasies. Which is how we got scenes of students kidnapping the staff and holding them hostage in their classrooms and such. Maximum cringe.

      1. dsch

        Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

        It's funny how whenever you hear someone start talking about "hard-earned cash" and "real life" and harping on about "growing up", you know it's going to be one of those "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of conservatives, mostly likely on the way to being a "deport all the immigrants and/or put them in concentration camps" kind of conservative.

        1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

          Yes. It's sad how they try to justify being selfish pricks.

          As I got older and richer, if anything, I've gotten more socialist

          Sure, I hate my taxes going to cheats and corruption, but that's generally greedy politicians rather than the deserved poor.

        2. VoiceOfTruth

          Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

          The same sort of conservatives who complain that "we didn't use to have riots in this country", and thus exposing their ignorance. The Riot Act of 1714 was not there for the uppity grandmas of East Sussex.

          1. stiine Silver badge

            Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

            English hatred of the Germans? Your nom de guerre seems rather inaccurate.

        3. cornetman Silver badge

          Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

          > you know it's going to be one of those "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" kind of conservatives

          And you would be wrong. I am a centre-left liberal. I believe in nationalised healthcare and a limited safety net in general. Just goes to show, you read a couple of sentences from someone, and you believe that you know everything about that person's beliefs. You are sorely mistaken.

          1. dsch

            Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

            > centre-left liberal

            Eh, I was off by one step. Close enough for government work.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

              He's American. "Centre-left liberal" would be viewed as centre-right in the rest of the world.

            2. Jaybus

              Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

              One step more to the left and there will be no other sort of work work, so perhaps that is true.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

            So you do believe in socialist policies.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

          As long as you do it from your own country, say whatever the hell you want, about whowever the hell you want. Don't expect US customs to ignore your words and actions.

          Claiming 'youth'??? Fuck off.

          1. kmorwath

            Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

            So we should check for all the MAGA people at customes and refuse them to enter EU? Ban people like Vance forever?

            Also, just look at the USAian crook who just killed a woman and their one year child in Rome... travelling using a passport with a false name generously given him by a state who doens't know who are its citizen because has a fully outdated, non wotking system,

            I think we should do far deeper check about any USAian attempting to enter EU.

            1. Irongut Silver badge

              Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

              Easier to just ban all yanks. It would improve all tourist spots for a start.

            2. Excused Boots Silver badge

              Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

              "So we should check for all the MAGA people at customes and refuse them to enter EU? Ban people like Vance forever?”

              I think the issue here is that for some (no, not all) MAGA people, they don’t accept the existence of anywhere outside of the ‘good ol’ USA so they won't be travelling there.

              I know I have said this many times, but in my career, in the UK, I have met and engaged with many Americans, and one thing almost all of them have said (over a few beers) is ‘I am not a typical American, because I am not in America’! They are the exceptions that accept that the ‘rest of the world’ exists and are prepared to engage with it.

              Frankly, any American who wants to visit Europe, fine, let them in; the instance you mentioned is an outlier; whatever protections you put in, there will always be an outlier. It doesn't mean we scrap the entire system, we don’t ban everyone ‘just in case’!

              No, in the unlikely case of a full-blown MAGA person coming to Europe, fine, let them in, see how it can work; not perfect, nobody is saying that anything, including Europe is perfect, nothing is; but, it works, mostly. Maybe, just maybe, we change their mind about how this shit all works? Or at least makes them think a bit more.

              This is simply going to restrict the number of people visiting the US or people thinking, ‘oh I better not visit the US just in case something I posted five years ago might...’,and spending money there; ultimately who loses out?

              Anyhow, bottom line, I think the US are harming themselves with this policy, it doesn’t mean that Europe needs to do the same.

          2. Jamie Jones Silver badge

            Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

            You're supporting the USA banning someone from entering just because they don't like your dear King Orange?

            "Land of the free", eh?

      2. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

        Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

        Maybe that was the case back in the 60s and 70s when there were professional jobs for graduates to go into and earn a reliable comfortable living for themselves and their families.

        For anyone who has grown up under the kleptocracy that has been in place since the Reagan era, the whole country is f*cked and demanding it be turned into some kind of socialist "utopia" where billionaires and presidents don't feel inclined to buy entire islands so they can isolate themselves from the anger of the millions of people whose labour enabled them is the only way society will have any actual security, as opposed to the illusion of security the kleptocrats have been selling us unsuccessfully for decades.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You aren't much of a student if you don't criticise the government.

        You do know that socialism doesn't automatically mean you have to hand over all your money and that getting a job, growing older doesn't magically turn people into assholes rght?

    2. Jedit Silver badge
      Unhappy

      "The US is a place to avoid now"

      You honestly didn't need to say more than this.

  5. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Why?

    No, not "why is the new Imperial Order of the USA doing this", why are there still students trying to go there?

    Do they watch any news? Universities under threat, funding slashed into oblivion, senior scientists being poached by other countries, anti-science sentiment to the top ranks of the government.

    Yes, you spent *years* getting through that paperwork for get that exchange/research/postgrad program, when the US unis still led the way globally, never mind the humiliation you probably had to go through to get the visum. All that work for nothing!

    But wake the fuck up!

    It will also have been for nothing if you end up refused entry at best and disappeared at worst, because of some post on TikTok!

    1. Wexford

      Re: Why?

      Yeah, we recently changed our travel plans and went to Mexico instead of the US. We still had to transit via LA, which was less terrible than I anticipated at least. But Mexico, wow! So many stereotypes in my head were crushed - I kept thinking I was in southern Europe at times. But I digress, the point being that we decided to avoid the US and it worked out very well for us.

  6. MrRtd

    Just don't go.

    I wouldn't head to the USA to study, vacation, or work, even if it were free. Why chance being rounded up by masked thugs (who may or may not be working for the government) and potentially shipped off to a foreign concentration camp in a 3rd country?

    1. Excused Boots Silver badge

      Re: Just don't go.

      "Why chance being rounded up by masked thugs (who may or may not be working for the government) and potentially shipped off to a foreign concentration camp in a 3rd country?”

      A year or so ago, I would have said, zero chance; but now, but now, who can say?

  7. VoiceOfTruth

    Other religions?

    >> "support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence."

    Presumably support for anti Hindu or anti Muslim or anti Confucian or other religions is perfectly fine. Presumably posts in favour of bombing hospitals are OK, as long the 'right' people are being bombed.

    All those people deleting their social media posts are deluded. The USA has already slurped it all. Private does not mean private from Uncle Sam. There is this little snippet which is interesting: "for not being active on social media". Well I know quite a few people who are not active. Typically they are much older, not tech savvy, and some of them don't have computers or smartphones. Try telling that to ICE.

    This is barely the beginning. The USA under Trump, but not just him, is going down the shitter. The USA is infected with its "exceptionalism" mindset. It's just another version of the Übermensch, and we saw how that ideal was misused. When will people wake up? It won't be long before there are concentration camps in the USA for the 'wrong' people. The US constitution is not worth two cents and will not protect Americans. Given the hateful politics in the USA, neighbours will happily turn in each other.

    But it's not just about Trump. Many US states ban books from school libraries. Land of the free, my arse.

    It's a great shame. There is on paper a lot to like about the USA. But it's turning itself into something it used to complain about other countries.

    Don't go to the USA, guys and girls. Don't sell out for dollars in your pocket.

    1. cornetman Silver badge

      Re: Other religions?

      > Many US states ban books from school libraries. Land of the free, my arse.

      Of course they do. WTF? You know that little kids go to school libraries right? Jeez. :O

      The constitution of the US protects adults. We have a different standard for our kids and rightly so.

      1. Casca Silver badge

        Re: Other religions?

        Oh yes, words can harm your kiddos...

        They can even grow up and learn things about the rest of the world. What a horror.

        1. Jaybus

          Re: Other religions?

          Of course words can harm kiddos. Ask any professional counselor whether verbal bullying is linked to suicide rate of kiddos. Ellen Hopkins' descriptions of sadomasochistic abuse are certainly available on Amazon for those who wish their children to learn about that, but some of us choose not to have them in school libraries. I suspect once grown up that most will not feel that their 10 year old self missed out on this "essential knowledge".

      2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Other religions?

        > We have a different standard for our kids

        Yeah, wouldn't do to let them grow up into free-thinking adults who might vote for the wrong sort of president.

        1. AnotherName

          Re: Other religions?

          With the way that schools are targeted by gun-toting freaks, what are the chances of them growing up at all?

      3. Graham Cobb

        Re: Other religions?

        little kids go to school libraries

        Yes. Little kids go to schools. There is no difference between the responsibility of deciding what and how to teach, and deciding what books to put in the school library. In both cases, it is the decision of the people who run the school. US states should stay out of both decisions and leave them to the schools.

        1. codejunky Silver badge

          Re: Other religions?

          @Graham Cobb

          "Yes. Little kids go to schools. There is no difference between the responsibility of deciding what and how to teach, and deciding what books to put in the school library. In both cases, it is the decision of the people who run the school. US states should stay out of both decisions and leave them to the schools."

          As US states are the equivalent of countries that are united under a federal structure that would be the same as demanding all countries in the EU to leave school decisions to the schools. I suppose government out of schools might stop some of the green madness being forced into teaching and some of the gender confusion stuff too.

          1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

            Re: Other religions?

            It would stop the teaching of evolution as science and creationism as religion. It would stop sex education that teaches any method other than abstinence for contraception, despite abstinence being demonstrably worse at preventing teenage pregnancy even than no sex education at all. It would facilitate some states' already implemented plans to teach that 81.2 million < 74.2 million, as in the 2020 Presidential Election. To the extent that the "green madness" is science, it would prevent the teaching of science.

            "The people who run the schools" are frequently parochial bigoted morons. The schools are paid for by the state, and the state has an imperative role in making sure the students are educated, sometimes in direct contradiction to their parents' wishes. Education is the defence of the state (Benjamin Franklin). A state that prevents its citizens from thinking in the disguise of education is weakening itself, with consequences that are already obvious.

            1. codejunky Silver badge

              Re: Other religions?

              @Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch

              Well said. I am not sure Graham had thought through the implications of getting the state out of education.

      4. codejunky Silver badge

        Re: Other religions?

        @cornetman

        "Of course they do. WTF? You know that little kids go to school libraries right? Jeez. :O

        The constitution of the US protects adults. We have a different standard for our kids and rightly so."

        I dont quite understand how this has loads of downvotes, we dont put pornography on the bottom shelves for a reason. Look at the outcry for child safety online leading to all kinds of stupid proposals. Or banning certain food adverts from certain times of the day.

        The idea of protecting your children shouldnt be some foreign concept.

      5. Jamie Jones Silver badge

        Re: Other religions?

        Well, it's not just school libraries, it's public libraries too.

        https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/23/11/book-bans-and-librarians-who-wont-be-hushed

    2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

      Re: Other religions?

      Typically they are much older, not tech savvy, and some of them don't have computers or smartphones.

      Atypically, some of them are much older, very tech savvy, and own both computers and smartphones. They just don't feel the need to burden the world with the details of their daily lives, or prefer to reduce their interactions with the advertising/tracking industry, or maybe like messaging systems that deliver just what they want - email is a good example, with proper spam filtering. Or perhaps they lack the gene that requires them to be at the beck and call of continuous notifications by their phone?

      I haven't visited the USA since 2001 or 2002, in spite of having relatives there; there was a time I considered emigration - there is an awful lot I enjoy and admire about both the country and the people - but these days? I'm not tempted.

      1. may_i Silver badge

        Re: Other religions?

        You described me perfectly!

        I'm 60, very tech savvy, and own multiple computers and a smartphone. I haven't used any site described as "social media" in the last two decades. Needing to have my opinions reviewed and approved before I am allowed to visit a country is a perfectly valid reason to not visit such a country.

        It's not like I'd ever contemplate visiting the USA again. That saddens me as I have friends who live there and pleasant memories of previous visits. But, since the USA started down its isolationist path, I'm quite capable of seeing an authoritarian banana republic for what it is and I want no part of it.

      2. Irongut Silver badge

        Re: Other religions?

        > Typically they are much older, not tech savvy, and some of them don't have computers or smartphones.

        I find your assumptions offensive.

        I'm a software developer and I've never had an account on FB, Insta, Twitter, MySpace, etc. At best I don't see the point, at worst you have the likes of Zuck & Musk in charge. El Reg and LinkedIn (strictly for work) are the only social media sites where I have an account.

        My 92 year old father is perfectly capable of using the laptops, phones and tablets he owns with almost no tech support from me. He also does not have any social media presence though he does have a WhatsApp account for the football, yoga, zumba, pilates and bowls he took up after mum died.

        Just because one is old or does not use social media does not make one "not tech savvy."

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Other religions?

          I think you are right to be offended. "Typically they are much older, not tech savvy, and some of them don't have computers or smartphones." should include all age groups, not just the "elderly".

          My experience is very few people are actually "tech savvy". They may *use* tech, but they have very little idea of what it is or how it works. They are "magic boxes". If the majority of people were actually "tech savvy", the likes of Facebook would be barren wastelands. No one ever describes the generations growing up using televisions, radios and telephones in the 1960's and 70's as tech savvy because the majority were "users" only.

  8. johnrobyclayton

    Time for AI generated Social Media Accounts

    Let me see, I want a social media account that:

    Is active enough to give screeners enough satisfying content.

    Contains no indications of bad feeling towards the the destination country.

    Contains no indications of aggression or support for terrorism.

    Will get me approved for entry.

    Contains no information that is verifiably false.

    And that gets interactions from other accounts that are from other manufactured social media accounts that are for the same purpose.

    Might get a bit fraught if manufactured social media accounts created for getting into the US start interacting with social media accounts manufactured for getting into China.

    And that I can delete and then recreate for the next country I need to go to.

    Another business opportunity for those companies that generate homework assignments and term papers.

    I am sure that there would be a lot of students willing to pay for it.

    “I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people and bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.”

    ― The Patrician, Ankh-Morpork

    ― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

    1. Fonant Silver badge

      Re: Time for AI generated Social Media Accounts

      At last, a genuinely useful use for "AI" (if you have to go to the USA for some odd reason)!

  9. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

    "any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States,"

    When the US government becomes hostile to the founding principles of the United States, one cannot support both.

    1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Hmm. Downvote without a reply.

      - My comment was a perfectly valid syllogism

      - The idea that the US government must, constitutionally, abide any and all political criticism of itself is one of the US's founding principles

      I suspect the downvote is pure cognitive dissonance.

    2. Spamolot

      This is essentially a Catch 22 situation. Support the Constitution or the Govt?

      1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

        The (executive) government can breach the constitution. If it does, well, that's what the judiciary is for, the likes of Alito and Thomas notwithstanding. In theory, that's the resolution to your paradox.

        If questioned, "I support the principles of the US Constitution completely." If asked for more detail about the current government, "With respect, making a governmental decision about me based on my answer to that question is unconstitutional. See my answer to the first question, in particular the bits about free speech, free association, self-incrimination and equal protection before the law."

        I have no intention of going anywhere near a place where an employee of the US Government might be empowered to ask one of those questions any time soon.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Whilst I'm not American the constitution seems a fine piece of work and I do support it. Wish we had the same. Getting governments to adhere to it and not weasel their way around it, is a different problem and one we could solve if we stopped voting for professional snake oil salesmen. Maybe people should look at candidates history and CV and an honest (joke) media's analysis of them.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Much of the US constitution is based on the written (and unwritten) bits of the British constitution, such as Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. That's hardly surprising since it was written by people who still had close historical connections to the UK.

            1. kmorwath

              Just they took away the king and all that stupid "nobility" stuff, which for the period was an advanced idea - anyway, many of those new ideas came from the "illuminist" culture that permeated the era, not all of them from Britain.

              Now we are in the "darkenist era" - and instead of truly learned people, we have a bunch of ignorants who build their power on another mass of ignorants. Keeping away students and turning university in some sort of religious teaching schools - like those in Middle East (**every country** in the Middle East...) to create another mass of ignorants, it the way to strongen and keep power.

        2. may_i Silver badge

          If you're not a USasian citizen, the constitutional protections of your rights do not apply to you, as many recent tourists are discovering.

          1. Uncle Slacky Silver badge
            Headmaster

            Consitutional rights generally apply to everyone in the jurisdiction - there are only a couple of instances where "citizens" are specifically mentioned. However, if you are outside the jurisdiction but want to enter it, then you're fair game.

            1. kmorwath

              " if you are outside the jurisdiction but want to enter it, then you're fair game."

              Stil, the request you make are still bound by your Constition. You can't violate the law at borders. Sure, you can deny entry if you wish. But you can't ask for data violating the fundamental laws. Unless you have a "probable cause" for such request - you can't drag fish, or enable per-crime laws.

              If a EU state would decide that a colonoscopy is mandatory for every US citizen, that would be against EU laws, and couldn't be done.

              PS: mass murders in US are far more common than abroad, and looking at social posts doesn't help much either. Probably all US students should put they profile to "public"....

              1. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

                Re: " if you are outside the jurisdiction but want to enter it, then you're fair game."

                Unfortunately it's already been established that constitutional rights aren't guaranteed within 100 miles of the border (including around international airports):

                https://www.aclu.org/documents/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

                https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone

            2. Jamie Jones Silver badge

              The problem is, constitutional rights are currently being ignored for both visitors and citizens alike.

              A constitution is useless if a spineless Congress and paid-for Supreme Court don't uphold it.

          2. kmorwath

            Sorry, but where US Constitution say "people" it means every person, not just US citizens. The Founding Fathers were far better people than the MAGA crowd. Those who thinks it doesn't, don't understand the law and are just stupid suprematists. Asserting that people in US have no rights if they are not US citizens is a very dangerous slope.

            Or do you mean that when US citizens are abroad, fundamental rights asserted by the state laws where they are in, don't apply? So we can jail US citizens without due process? We can confiscate all their belongins at will (let's start with Bezos and his friends in Venice!)?

            We can enslave them as non-persons?

            Beware of what you wish.... it might become true.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          See my answer to the first question

          Questioning AU-THOR-I-TAH? Off to the gulag with you!

          I wish I could just /s that, but all too many government officials in the US at all levels seem to have managed to achieve a negative sense of humour when it comes to either their particular role/position or that of nearly any other government office/figure.

          1. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

            Re: See my answer to the first question

            Passing through the US Border Security an Australian was asked to show the contents of a kid's backpack, and, removing a teddy, only occupant of the backpack, said "There's a bear in there." Her partner, being a comedian, added "And a chair as well."

            For context, in Australia, the TV show Play School is a national institution, and its theme song, unchanged for 50 years, begins "There's a bear in there, and a chair as well." Practically everyone who grew up in Australia knows it by heart, because it's on twice a day, every day of the year, and for pre-schoolers viewing is pretty much compulsory.

            Cue multiple officials grilling the entire family and searching every scrap of checked and hand luggage (not sure but in the original account I believe they missed their flight because of it). "What did you mean by a chair? Is there anything else in your luggage you haven't told us about? Are you attempting to take anything out of the country illegally?"

            Depending on the story-teller, cavity searches may be part of the story. Possibly apocryphal, but absolutely credible.

            /anecdote

  10. DS999 Silver badge

    This is going to backfire

    Other countries will go tit for tat and say "you want to make our citizens open up their profiles, fine we'll make that a condition for American citizens to enter ours on a tourist visa" and watch all the MAGA talking heads on TV go fucking INSANE. But there will be nothing Trump can do about it other than call those countries "shithole countries" or threaten them with tariffs that will be reciprocated.

    Its all because Trump wants to be able to eject foreign students who say bad things about him, because he's the thinnest skinned human ever to survive birth.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This is going to backfire

      I don't think he's particularly thin skinned or he would've had a breakdown by now. But yeah censoring free speech after having been the victim of deplatforming and lies means he didn't learn much.

      1. Casca Silver badge

        Re: This is going to backfire

        been the victim of deplatforming and lies? LMAO

        He and elon is the most thin skinned humans in existence.

    2. Dave@Home

      Re: This is going to backfire

      I remember them losing their shit when Brazil implemented equal levels of security theatre at their borders.

    3. gryphon

      Re: This is going to backfire

      When the US introduced fingerprinting for all tourists etc. did Brazil not do tit-for-tat, except they had to use ink-pads rather than scanning tech?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This is going to backfire

      "the MAGA talking heads on TV go fucking INSANE."

      A destination jurisdiction that required US visitors to declare whether they know how to fire a handgun or long arm and whether they possess either would pretty much do it.

      Although I would contest the "go ... INSANE" as I am certain the MAGAsque insanity is congenital and only now its expression is now explicit.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hooray for the wayback machine.

    I expect that your friends instagram posts about attending an anti-american rally with you are going to make your stay in the US a loop through the international terminal at JFK. If you start blithering about 'free speech' we'll invite you to do it from home.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: hooray for the wayback machine.

      Can't have any subversive student types wittering on about free speech in the US, can you. Too European for your taste?

    2. Benegesserict Cumbersomberbatch Silver badge

      Re: hooray for the wayback machine.

      Hypocrite.

  12. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Land of the Free

    Canada ?

  13. This post has been deleted by its author

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Making it worse

    "Visa seekers are reportedly censoring their own posts"

    When done US, now you wont know who the anti-americans are. I saw one poor guy was refused entry for having a joke picture of JD Vance on his phone. If that is true and not a troll it's truly pathetic. All the bad guys will have to do to ensure entry is wear a MAGA hat and talk about the threat from Chynah. Oops that's me barred!

    Taking a more serious note, it's censorship of free speech and I thought Trump was against that, or at least he was before re-election.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Making it worse

      Just back from Boston -Logan Airport and Washington - DCA Airport. They are working as normal.

      Country largely divided by Maga cheerleaders, those in denial about The Man in the High Castle-esque USA and the. No Kings Supporters.

      Walmart, Food Lion , Royal Farms, Wawa etc all ‘normal’, as was the shit traffic to DCA.

      All TSA and CBP staff encountered were pleasant and professional. No Gestapo apparent.

      1. Dave@Home

        Re: Making it worse

        "All TSA and CBP staff encountered were pleasant and professional."

        Now I know you're making it up

      2. KarMann Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Making it worse

        Well, shirley a few good apples freshen the bunch, don't they?

  15. Groo The Wanderer - A Canuck

    Welcome to The Shithole Fascist States of America.

    You HAVE no rights.

    Now STFU and bend over for your cavity search...

  16. kmorwath

    A huge gift to Facebook & C.

    Remember that Facebook aims abroad to be able to use at least "public" data to train its AIs? The US goverernment comes to rescue!

    Is it a violation of both the First and Fourth Amendment? Who cares. After all, Vance says it's EU that hinders free speech, so it must be true. The only one that matters is the Second, all the other ones can be ignored.

    Trumpistan is more and more alike Russia and China. Orwrell was right - just it isn't socialism to rule (but the China version), it's crooked capitalism.

  17. lglethal Silver badge

    So foreign Students need to make all posts public, but it's still ok for all those conspiracy theorists/anti-vaxxers/threat-mongers/add-to-list-as-applicable to be effectively anonymous on Xitter, Lies Social, Faecesbook, etc.

    The cognitive dissonance is strong with this one...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Our glorious leader

    Heil Trump!l as he leads the US into a new era of production and prosperity.

  19. Tubz Silver badge

    We all already live in a fascists authoritarian regime of one degree or another now in the west! Not that I ever have to worry about getting a US visa, why pay to visit foreign cesspools when I can stay in the good old UK and visit our own cesspools for free!

  20. Christoph

    Open your account up to your stalker

    If someone has a stalker or a vindictive and violent ex-spouse this opens their account up so they can be tracked down.

  21. mark l 2 Silver badge

    The El Reg comments are the only real social media im active on, id be fscked if i wanted to get into the US if had to disclose this handle, as I've not exactly be praising the orangutan for the last 6 months.

    I suspect the enterprising people on Fivver and other such market places will already be gearing up to sell social media account with US friendly only posts that you can declare on your visa application

  22. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

    It's interesting how freedom of speech absolutists are so upset when people exercise their freedom of speech...

  23. Kurgan Silver badge

    Welcome to the post-social media world

    This is where everyone should see what can happen to people expressing their political views on social media. One day you're here bitching about some political party, the next day you're in a labour camp breaking stones on a chain. Or maybe thrown out of a plane in the middle of the sea. And as I'm writing this, I'm guilty of this behaviour, too. I'll be with the ones at the labour camp soon, probably.

    And there is no real way to "clean up", once it's online, it stays online forever.

    Oh, and this is a warning to the "I have nothing to hide" people, too. You have nothing to hide NOW. What about tomorrow?

  24. trevorde Silver badge

    New Executive Order

    Refuse entry to USA to anyone who has a Xitter account or owns a Tesla

    - Donald J Trump, President

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's me done then

    "... any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States."

    With the exception of the citizens who have to endure having their noses rubbed into the own political excrement without any hostility from me (or sympathy), I have very little time for the hypocrisy of the rest.

    [Don't forget those "founding principles" encompassed the "institution" of chattel slavery. Remedied in 1865 arguably for reasons not directly related to that abomination.]

    Fortunately I am perfectly content to blither on from a home not blessed by the first amendment even about free speech without feeling deprived of the dubious privilege of visiting the imperial Trumpisstani homeland.

    I imagine this is going to require significant detours for journeys from some nations for visitors to Canada who wish to, or need to absolutely avoid transiting a US jurisdiction.

    I can imagine conference venues in Canada and Mexico receiving a boost hosting "international" events; while those in the US a corresponding slump.

  26. xyz123 Silver badge

    So what if I don't use Facebook (80% bots) or twitter (now officially around 98% bot posts) etc?

    1. lglethal Silver badge
      Trollface

      Then no US visits for you, Sonny Jim!

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Joke

        What if I make or buy a Facebook bot?

        1. lglethal Silver badge
          Joke

          If you buy one, that's fine. You're clearly a capitalist.

          If you make one, that's sounds dangerously like you must be a hacker. And a communist. And Anti-trump. Because reasons. No US for you!

  27. nijam Silver badge

    > ... "any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States,"

    So Trump, then.

  28. M.V. Lipvig Silver badge

    I see nothing wrong here

    Entering any nation is a privilege. If a nation wants to demand all visitors wear pink pants with yellow polkadots and go everywhere hopping on one leg while shouting HEADY HEADY HEADY then guess what? You either comply or you don't enter that nation.

    When I as an American visit other nations, I fully expect to comply with their laws and take pains to not stand out while there. I'm visiting someone else's home, and it's not my job to complain or cause trouble while there, nor do I break laws while there that I might not think twice about breaking at home. I don't think it's too much to expect the same when others visit mine.

    1. Excused Boots Silver badge

      Re: I see nothing wrong here

      "I don't think it's too much to expect the same when others visit mine.”

      And yes, absolutely, if I were to visit the US and engage in some activity that breaks the law, then, of course, I expect to be punished.

      Fine, but is it the law in the US that any sort of criticism of the Trump administration is illegal? Is it OK if I were to say, ‘yes I get your Second Amendment, but surely....’?

      Now I’m not advocating nor leading any sort of ‘armed insurrection*’ I’m merely raising a point, a question.

      Should I be banned from entering the US just for asking ‘OK, now are we sure that your Founding Fathers wanted or anticipated.....'?

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: I see nothing wrong here

      "I don't think it's too much to expect the same when others visit mine."

      So, when Trump, Vance or any other "elected officials" criticise EU leadership or claim there is no freedom of speech in the EU, we should ban them from ever visiting again? Even though criticising the Govt. or its leaders is actually allowed because we *do* have freedom of speech, even for foreign visitors? Because that is EXACTLY what the US is now doing.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Someone stick a fork in it

    America is about done.

  30. tiggity Silver badge

    US visit

    I am visiting (Cali) this year from UK.

    On ESTA form (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) there was stuff about social media but was also an option to state you have no social media

    It has been decades since I was last in USA on a work visit, going through "customs" was very unpleasant back then as they seemed to pick individuals who just hate everybody to be passenger facing... and that was Boston, one of the more liberal states.

    So it will be difficult for me to know if the "customs" experience is more unpleasant / aggressive as a very high bar was set on my last visit.

    Though, UK only has illusion of freedom of opinion / speech (e.g. we see twisting of terrorism laws to target people who disagree with government policy on the Israel / Palestine situation *, judiciary encouraged to give harsh as possible sentences on JSO protesters etc)

    So, a US visit, will be different people in charge but still only an illusion of a free & fair democracy where difference of opinion is tolerated. But to various degrees, all countries are like that. Even those you think are "perfect" reveal their limits on freedom of expression when you investigate closely.

    * & even get the tool Starmer claiming Kneecap should be banned from Glastonbury (it's a music festival FFS & they are correct that we are seeing a genocide, being aware of Irish history (on both sides of the border) they are already well aware of how the (primarily English) UK government behaves towards those that strongly disagree with it))

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like