If they’re still in power in five years, it won’t be a real attempt to enter the US anyways, I’ll just be there for the fuck you part.
I’m thinking of starting a company that will provide, for a small fee, a full set of MAGA compliant social media accounts, for people that absolutely HAVE to visit ‘murica. Facebook, xitter and instagram full of posts with “Trump is so manly”, “Love how Trump trolls the libs” and “Love this unsustainable, nondiverse thing I just ordered from an American company”.
All the posts will be dated within some weeks of entry, but US border goons are not chosen for their intelligence.
They will not contemplate the attempt-some low level clerk with no power will just file the name and move on. A lot of effort on your part that will reach no one of consequence.
I also love to travel abroad and will continue to do so despite the potential issues.
But I guess I should be cautious to some degree.
You will be harassed and/or shut down for interfering with the process.
Those that stomp on human rights just don’t give a flying fuck about “clever” subtilty.
I get that you’re sort of kidding but do policies like this actually define what is included when they ask about “social media” accounts? I think most people would think Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and maybe Reddit. But do they list the ones they want to know about?
To be honest, I am guessing that nobody knows what they are actually planning to do. I think this is an intimidation tactic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it never actually gets put into play.
This all stems from this Executive Order:
And that led to this public notice:
Mandatory Social Media: In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application. The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years.
I’m sure that if they actually implement this at some point, they will ask for social media account information. I don’t know what they would do if someone said they don’t use social media at all. Or how they could prove that the information provided to them is accurate. That is why I see this as more of an aspiration than anything they’ll ever put into play. The US government (read: Donald Trump) has suggested many crazy ideas that they’ve had to backtrack on because they weren’t actually something they could really put into practice.
All news reports I’ve seen on this subject talk about things that are being “proposed” and “may happen”. This all seems to be in the realm of “we are thinking about doing this”.
Note that it took almost an entire year from the moment the executive order was signed to the point where they’ve said they are considering actually doing it.
Right. I don’t use social media aside from this message board. So can I honestly claim no social media usage?
I am sure the Trump administration will offer a gold plated process to skip these disclosures.
But how would you fare with this part? “In a notice published on Tuesday, the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) said it would also require any telephone numbers used by visitors over the same period, and any email addresses used in the last decade, as well as face, fingerprint, DNA and iris biometrics. It would also ask for the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members, including children.”
I can’t imagine wanting to go to a place so much that I’d give their government 5 years worth of my social media posts, my telephone, email, face, fingerprint, DNA and iris biometrics as well as the vital information of my family and children.
Honestly, get fucked, I’ll take my travel dollars somewhere else, like Paris, or Sydney, a place where I’m not treated like a criminal for wanting to enter and where I’m not at risk of being rounded up and shipped off in shackles because a masked goon doesn’t like my accent.
And this is complicated by scammers. Cloning a person’s Facebook account so you can try to scam their friends is pretty common. I’ve been duplicated, and so have many people I know. It’s not as common as it was a few years ago, but it still happens. They copy a bunch of your posts and pictures, so that if someone who doesn’t actually know you sees it, it’s likely they’ll think the fake really is you. So what’s to stop people from just saying, “Oh, that’s a scam account, nothing I can do about it…”?
AFAIK, I’ve never been cloned, but I’ve seen people try to clone others on my friends list in Facebook at least a half a dozen times. Twice it was for someone who passed away (which led to hilarious “How are you doing this, I thought you died 5 years ago!!!” responses).
So again, I don’t know how this ambitious policy can actually be implemented (and I’m assuming it never actually will be).
I’ve been saying for a year now that I may never visit the States again. That’s getting more and more likely.
This.
Add the extra risk of delinquent state employees using the data for nefarious purposes and you’ll have to be very stupid to submit to that unless it’s absolutely inevitable. (say, you need some medical procedure that cannot be done in other country or something like that)
It’s a stupid policy to introduce anytime but just before the country is to host the World Cup and the Summer Games?
More World Cup tickets for red blooded Americans, I say. We’re sure to flock to those games between… Haiti and Scotland. Line will be out the door for that one.
But hosting events like this is typically inviting the world to visit (and to spend lots of tourist dollars).
You are asking for coherence from a troop of irrational ultra-nationalistic xenophobic baboons, that way lies madness.
I will be honest, I thought FIFA’s participation trophy was an attempt to prevent Trump from ruining the event with his bullshit.
Seems they needed to give him a plane or something.