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U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

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Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#271

Post by conkerspoon »

nbdev wrote: post #217
bambax wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's not Trump, it's the US. I will probably never visit that country again, and I don't much care; but, I'm kind of sad for my kids. That said, the world is a big place. Let's hope not every other country does the same.

You won't visit the US because they want your social media details?

Americans may be shocked to discover that given the downward trajectory of the US at the moment, for many international travellers this is yet one more reason to choose somewhere else over the US. It's hardly extreme to avoid a country that keeps providing reason after reason to avoid it.

Especially for people who have been outspoken about the US' illegal wars and various war crimes.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#272

Post by malloryerik »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #245
bambax wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's not Trump, it's the US. I will probably never visit that country again, and I don't much care; but, I'm kind of sad for my kids. That said, the world is a big place. Let's hope not every other country does the same.

We don't care. Have a good life.

You do realize that visa policies are typically reciprocal, yes? So Americans will now be required to show their social media details to get visas.

Also, it seems to me that one of the best things about America is, or was, that people from all over the world went there or wanted to go there.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#273

Post by kijin »

astura wrote: post #242
adamsea wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may have misunderstood - I think the parent is saying its the same principle as, say, convicting Al Capone of tax fraud. Create a large number of small, easy-to-accidentally-violate laws (think police stops and traffic laws here), and then selectively enforce them - so if its difficult to prove someone is a terrorist, kick them out of the country for incorrectly filling out their Form WhateverWhatever1300B instea…

They got Al Capone on tax evasion (not fraud) because he evaded taxes, not because of some grand scheme. The IRS is interested in collecting taxes, not policing.

On a related note, the IRS also requires that you report and pay taxes on all the money you made by robbing banks, selling drugs, and embezzling your employer's coffers.

Nobody who hasn't already been convicted will fill out those forms, of course, but that's another criminal charge if the DA wants to put you away for even longer.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#275

Post by weirdstuff »

dbsvsv wrote: post #269
opportune wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conversely, it makes running an opposition campaign so easy that the opposition won't need to focus on the big issues. The opposition could focus on morality and pay lip-service to neoliberal diversity theatre while simultaneously selling out to corporate interests. If you're running against Trump in an election, what's the point of drawing the ire of industry (pharma, insurance, military, surveillance, general big-c…

The entire Russia collusion thing is to take peoples attention away from dnc's burning of Bernie and other actions. I would urge people to read the WikiLeaks emails once and see what's in their. Its truly damning. Also if there were an actual collusion then one of those "17 intelligence agencies" and the senate intelligence committee or Mueller probe would have revealed in a year. Unless you admit Trump is a total Ge…

And it started right after Trump won. Before that night the wisdom was exactly the opposite: that our elections can't be hacked, and we shouldn't believe claims about it.

Then Trump won and created mass hysteria in the political community, then the FUD went full steam ahead about Russia.

Instead of talking of the contents of the leaks, all we now can talk about was that there was a leak – and, oh – it was Russia hacking! (But don't discuss the details in the leaks, though. Instead pivot the discussion to malevolent hacking.)

I'm extremely skeptical Russia and their paltry spending had any effect on the election. Clinton and Trump were well known in this country long before the election anyhow. Clinton had a close relationship with Russia for that matter. And domestically Clinton/Trump and U.S. stakeholders spent billions of dollars to sway public opinion. Russia can't compete with that.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#276

Post by conkerspoon »

This thread has been infested with propagandists attempting to normalise this unusual state of affairs.

Like every other service that allows anonymous account signup, stick a fork in HN... it's done. It's easy picking for Chinese and Russian propagandists.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#277

Post by fernandotakai »

ineedtosleep wrote: post #13

Pretty absurd that they're asking for all of this and: > [...] In addition to their social media histories, visa applicants will be asked for five years of previously used telephone numbers, email addresses, international travel and deportation status, as well as whether any family members have been involved in terrorist activities. I know a number of people going through, or have been through, the US visa process an…

> Furthermore, if you submit that you don't have a social media account are they going to assume you're a liar?

something like that already happened to me. i was coming into the us as a tourist (and i was a tourist, i was visiting SF because i found really cheap tickets and a cheap airbnb). at border control, the office starts typing at her computer, i asked her if there was something wrong.

she said, and i'm not joking, that she was searching for me on facebook because "she wanted to see the reasoning for me to come and go from the us". i said i had no facebook account (i don't, i don't like facebook) and she said "it was really suspicious for me not to have a facebook account, since everybody had one".

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#278

Post by aurelian15 »

davb wrote: post #252
aurelian15 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GitHub is explicitly listed as "social media" on the optional question that is on the ESTA [1] form since 2016. If I remember correctly, the wording is relatively broad, so I would guess that HN and Reddit count as well. [1] https://www.evisaonline.com/en/usa/esta.html

Just an FYI - that website (evisaonline) isn’t an official government site. They seem to be some third party who provide some sort of ESTA application service. The official site is at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

Thanks, my fault. Just pasted the first link Google returned.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#279

Post by jacquesm »

bpye wrote: post #266
jacquesm wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you realize that alternate airports for many Canadian airports are US airports and that you could be forced to go through immigration if your plane ends up at an alternate?

What would happen if you refused to provide any details to US immigration at that point..?

Detention.

Re: U.S. To Seek Social Media Details from All Visa Applicants

#280

Post by fernandotakai »

hobos_delight wrote: post #136
swebs wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, citizens of most first world countries don't need a visa to enter the US if they're visiting for less than 90 days. This includes western Europe, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Baltic countries, etc. You can just get on a plane and fly over. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program#/media/Fil...

> You can just get on a plane and fly over. Not quite - you will need an ESTA - a visa waiver, and the airlines (usually) check before you board that you have a current one. But they are valid for two years, and trivial to get via the webapp.

and a visa/ESTA does not mean you can get into the country. border control can and will vet you if they don't like you.
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