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U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

usatoday.com

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Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#21

Post by mikeash »

Karellen wrote: post #18
mikeash wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For US citizens, they may hassle you a bit but they have to let you in. For non-citizens, any refusal to cooperate will likely result in being refused entry and immediate deportation back to wherever they came from.

I actually don't have, and have never had, a facebook or twitter account. So, if I ever try to go to the US it's likely that that will be seen as "refusal to cooperate"? And I'm likely to be denied entry because of it? Wow.

I don't know what would happen there. If you can convince them that you truly have none, you should be fine, but they may be hard to convince. Immigration officers can refuse non-citizens entry for almost any reason.

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#24

Post by giobox »

anotheryou wrote: post #13
xaviex wrote: post #8

Do people who travel to other countries REALLY have the gall to post something threatening to the country they are traveling too?

I don't post anything public on facebook. What will they say? Or will they breach my privacy right away and have a look anyways? From the outside it is not even clear how old the acc is.

Facebook alone is a poor example as private accounts are the norm, at least among most folks I know.

Twitter on the other hand is used far more widely with public accounts, and is commonly used as a platform for political discourse. The few "hate speech" style cases I've read (great example is the infamous "twitter joke" trial in the U.K.) have almost always stemmed from Twitter accounts. Instagram is similarly much more commonly used with public accounts.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter_Joke_Trial

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#25

Post by korzun »

mikeash wrote: post #7
anotheryou wrote: post #2

More important: what happens when someone refuses to tell or claim not to have one?

For US citizens, they may hassle you a bit but they have to let you in. For non-citizens, any refusal to cooperate will likely result in being refused entry and immediate deportation back to wherever they came from.

> For US citizens, they may hassle you a bit but they have to let you in.

This does not apply to U.S citizens. The very first paragraph of the article covers this.

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#26

Post by [deleted] »

jc_811 wrote: post #19

I'm all for privacy and the government not overstepping their bounds, but could someone please let me know why this is so bad? I'm genuinely curious. Your social media info is Public. If you have information public, that is your own fault and the govt can access that regardless if you give them your handles or not. If they were asking for passwords and access to accounts - of course that would be a different ball gam…

[deleted]

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#27

Post by stevenwoo »

jc_811 wrote: post #19

I'm all for privacy and the government not overstepping their bounds, but could someone please let me know why this is so bad? I'm genuinely curious. Your social media info is Public. If you have information public, that is your own fault and the govt can access that regardless if you give them your handles or not. If they were asking for passwords and access to accounts - of course that would be a different ball gam…

This probably would have happened no matter who was President as a consequence of the review of the visa process started under Obama after San Bernandino massacre. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/us/san-bernardino-attacks...

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#28

Post by kahnpro »

xaviex wrote: post #8

Do people who travel to other countries REALLY have the gall to post something threatening to the country they are traveling too?

No, but US customs rejects people all the time for shit like... you admit to smoking weed once 15 years ago.

There's all sorts of "harmless" things that could be on your Facebook profile that could get you rejected.

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#29

Post by korzun »

PopsiclePete wrote: post #17
xaviex wrote: post #8

Do people who travel to other countries REALLY have the gall to post something threatening to the country they are traveling too?

Define "threatening". It's a slippery slope. Yeah, maybe "Allahu Akbar death to America" is an obvious one, but what about "Fuck Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate accord" - is that "anti-American"?

> "Fuck Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate accord" - is that "anti-American"?

Name one country that will grant you VISA if you start yelling similar things about their president.

Re: U.S. now can ask travelers for Facebook, Twitter handles

#30

Post by mikeash »

korzun wrote: post #25
mikeash wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For US citizens, they may hassle you a bit but they have to let you in. For non-citizens, any refusal to cooperate will likely result in being refused entry and immediate deportation back to wherever they came from.

> For US citizens, they may hassle you a bit but they have to let you in. This does not apply to U.S citizens. The very first paragraph of the article covers this.

This specific policy does not apply to US citizens, but the general act of being asked for social media passwords and similar certainly can.
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