New US Visa Rules Will Force Foreign Students To Unlock Social Media Profiles (theguardian.com) 108
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Foreign students will be required to unlock their social media profiles to allow US diplomats to review their online activity before receiving educational and exchange visas, the state department has announced. Those who fail to do so will be suspected of hiding that activity from US officials. The new guidance, unveiled by the state department on Wednesday, directs US diplomats to conduct an online presence review to look for "any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States."
A cable separately obtained by Politico also instructs diplomats to flag any "advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security" and "support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence." The screening for "antisemitic" activity matches similar guidance given at US Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security and has been criticized as an effort to crack down on opposition to the conduct of Israel's war in Gaza.
The new state department checks are directed at students and other applicants for visas in the F, M and J categories, which refer to academic and vocational education, as well as cultural exchanges. "It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump administration is doing every single day," said a senior state department official, adding that Marco Rubio was "helping to make America and its universities safer while bringing the state Department into the 21st century."
A cable separately obtained by Politico also instructs diplomats to flag any "advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security" and "support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence." The screening for "antisemitic" activity matches similar guidance given at US Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security and has been criticized as an effort to crack down on opposition to the conduct of Israel's war in Gaza.
The new state department checks are directed at students and other applicants for visas in the F, M and J categories, which refer to academic and vocational education, as well as cultural exchanges. "It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump administration is doing every single day," said a senior state department official, adding that Marco Rubio was "helping to make America and its universities safer while bringing the state Department into the 21st century."
Easy (Score:4, Informative)
I created on purpose a second profile in order to make me appear like a "good guy".
I will show them that one.
Re:Easy (Score:5, Funny)
Is this your first or second profile?
Re: Easy (Score:2)
42nd
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No. 45th and 47th profiles.
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Is this your first or second profile?
Also, don't forget to account for Rule 34 [wikipedia.org]?
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When your profiles are correlated in some way, and rest assured they will be eventually, you're going to be deported. Even if you do convince some wanna-king in black robe you are entitled to some process outside ICE, it will be slam dunk you lied on your app based on simple dates of the profiles.
I am sure your University won't refund the tuition.
Great strategy.
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Just ditch all social media apps (Score:3)
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Interesting misspelling, one which permits Sieg Theil!".
Re: Just ditch all social media apps (Score:2)
Saying there is no difference is incorrect. But it is surprising how often completely different motives lead to the same behavior. There are many overlapping factions with differing goals that sometimes align and sometimes oppose each other. Complexity is annoying, but it is real. Thiel for example has views that are largely incompatible with any faction involving manufacturing, but he wants enough of the same things that there is compromise. There are even different generalizations you can make about the p
Re:Just ditch all social media apps (Score:5, Insightful)
Thiel, Musk and Trump are all firmly in the right wing camp, so is Larry Ellison, Thiel has been right wing for his entire time we as in the public have known about him.
There is no need for the both sides kayfabe, we can just say one side is more of a threat than the other. That doesn't make the other side "good", i know for some people they would rather just die than admit that but for real, one side is worse if this is actually what you care about and not just reflexively bagging on liberals because they can be annoying and feckless, they are but they're not starting "technocracy".
We can want liberals to do better (they should) but to equivocate is doing the work of the technocrats for them, it helps them.
Re:Just ditch all social media apps (Score:5, Insightful)
BoThSiDeS
Yet another "uniparty" claim, attempting to somehow make Democrats appear to be just as bad as the GOP. This also somehow mitigates all the reprehensible crap that the GOP does.
That doesn't help... (Score:2)
...if you've been posting using your real name. A quick internet search will reveal the existence of accounts irrespective of apps, installed or otherwise.
What if you don't have one? (Score:3, Insightful)
https://battlepenguin.com/phil... [battlepenguin.com]
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What if you don't have any social media? I deleted all mine in 2021.
You do know that /. comments are a form of social media, right?
An antique ASCII-era social medium, granted, but social media none the less.
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You do know that /. comments are a form of social media, right?
No, /. is a forum, you child of Eternal September [wikipedia.org].
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If you're talking to other people, you're doing it.
With such broad definition, Party line [wikipedia.org] would also qualify as a social media.
Re:What if you don't have one? (Score:4, Interesting)
No, they are not.
"Soshul media" is the dystopian crap that asks you for your phone number, matches your phonebook with that of everyone else and does its best to try and make you "interact" by purposefully sending your way crap you don't need that it thinks will make you mad.
Slashdot and forums in general are not any of these, they are a lot closer to the net news of old.
Slashdot did remove anonymous posts some years ago, though, which was a step in the wrong direction.
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You're right but I'd be surprised if it is included in any list. It's closed to new accounts for two years. By being specific to one topic it's also the same as any obscure Arts and Crafts phpBB forum. You have plausible deniability to say you didn't even know it existed.
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This is for exchange students, typically 18-22 y.o. when they apply. They have not reached life stage where we delete social media.
Also, young people:
* have a LinkedIn account as they get advised to do so during their studies
* use Facebook even if only for the needed cases to interact with local businesses
* want to share pictures with family and friends just as much as everyone else and many use Instagram account, even if keeping it private. Not everybody will self-host a Nextcloud instance.
Depends (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, young people:
* have a LinkedIn account as they get advised to do so during their studies
Depends where. In the US, in the corporate world maybe. (I am in an European country, working in academia).
Here around LinkedIn is considered barely useful. Nobody would find weird if you don't have an account on that platform.
Countless local CV-hosting platforms seem to be more popular for job hunting.
As are also online portfolio on small webpages (github.io seem to be popular in my field of work).
Bluesky and even Mastodon seem more popular network in general in my milieu.
* use Facebook even if only for the needed cases to interact with local businesses
That seems to be very specific to some countries. I guess that the Zuck has managed to successfully becom "the web" in the US and some countries.
But very few businesses here around bother with facebook. Having a cheap static webpage (like some local hosting companies will host for free when you buy a domain through them) seem to be the most popular option.
Followed by listing on various business rating platforms.
If social network are involved, currently I am under the impression that a different Zuck's platform is more frequently used: instagram (mostly for showing pictures of the goods, specially for restaurants).
* want to share pictures with family and friends just as much as everyone else and many use Instagram account, even if keeping it private.
I've rarely heard classic social networks being used for sharing pictures with family and friends. The trust is extremely low in any of FB / intragram, etc.
For sharing for closed friends, chat groups seem way more popular, specially on platforms that (at least pretend to) implement end-2-end encryption.
WhatsApp used to a be a popular option and can still be find among older generations.
Signal is gaining traction specially among the younger (e.g.: all our PhD students use that for communication. WhatsApp is seen as an old people's chat network {insert here "in South Korea, only old people use" meme}).
Not everybody will self-host a Nextcloud instance.
Oh common, keep up with the trends:
"Not everybody will self-host a PixelFed instance."
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I also work in academia in Europe. I get questioned on why I can't be found on LinkedIn, from students (my answer is "because I don't need a new job") and from angry colleagues ("You can't be our responsible for lab X and not have a LinkedIn page!").
I've rarely heard classic social networks being used for sharing pictures with family and friends.
What I hear from students when I ask them how is someone doing is that the person recently published a picture on Instagram or appeared on LinkedIn as newly employed. I understood it's how the young know their friends are still alive.
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What have you got to hide?
(from a man with no social media accounts looking for advice)
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What if you don't have any social media? I deleted all mine in 2021. I suggest others do so too. It makes life a lot better:
Even when you delete a social media account, the information is generally preserved. You'll probably be required to disclose all social media accounts which have at some time been under your control under penalty of perjury. Even if you can't unlock those old accounts, the information might still be accessible to the government. You might be required to sign a waiver granting all social media companies permission to disclose all information (including deleted posts).
I'm sure... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure said "antisemitic activity" screening won't target people just for pointing out Israel's many war crimes in this current conflict, right? ....Right?
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That's not the one to worry about... (Score:3)
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...while being too sincere about looking for antisemitism could really complicate our beautiful friendship with Reform UK and and AfD; some members of which may have made enthusiastic and somewhat intemperate observations about international Jewry; but in the good, honest, Anglo-Saxon and/or Teutonic fashion that certainly doesn't suggest backing the wrong semites.
That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white. I'm sure Reform UK, AfD, and the antisemitic portions of the Republican party would be happy to look the other way if "combating antisemitism" kept brown people out.
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That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white.
You are insulating presence of racism without a shred of evidence. Why do you see racism in everything? You doth protest too much, methinks.
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Why do you see racism in everything?
I most definitely don't. Your question makes me wonder why you pretend racism doesnt exists in places where it obviously does though.
The Unite the Right rally https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] with its chants of "Jews will not replace us" that had "good people on both sides" was too recent for you to have forgotten. Never mind the many neo Nazi groups in America that are in love with Trump https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com] and see this as their moment just like last time Trump was in office. I'm also certai
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Of course I never said what you are claiming.
What I actually said was that the antisemitic portions of the Republican base would look the other way in regards to this in the interest of keeping brown people out.
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That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white.
I see no other way to interpret what you said.
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And then read the rest of what I wrote for context.... Oh, it says exactly what I said it does.
Quit being a shitbag and trying to find fault by reading things into statements that arent there.
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Hahaha. I love that you accuse me of finding racism everywhere in your first post to me when you're so intent on finding fault with me you cant conceptualize what I said in any other way other than to be triggered and find fault.
I'm done with your idiocy, fuck off.
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That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white. .... happy to look the other way if "combating antisemitism" kept brown people out.
You insinuated the policy to inspect social media is racist, intended to keep brown people out. When called on the absurdity of your statements, you went all out backpedaling. Exposing your insane views must be done, because people like you espousing toxic drivel like that must be exorcised from the polite conversation.
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No, it is not at all obvious that policy requiring foreign student applicants to provide access to social media accounts has anything to do with racism, despite your unsubstantiated claims to the contrary.
You're right it has everything to do with "anti-semitism". According to certain government, to oppose the US involvement in Israel means you hate Israel and all jews. How is this possible? No one knows.
It's the same shit from the same people over and over. W's war was the same, you hate america if you don't want to invade a foreign country for no reason. It's as simple as it's a strawman built by radical idiots. To oppose their radical nutty religious american jihad, they attack you with a crazy exa
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In broader terms, the only people that have a chance to rein-in Trump are MAGA. Effective criticism of Trump can only be from the Right, that why Tucker exposing Cruz as a fraud was so devastating to neocon
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Obviously a solvable problem if you've got someone who knows how to carry out the quiet part without saying it and can do some cross referencing; but even if your social media tex
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What is a war crime?
Something like this: Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid [reuters.com].
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What is a war crime?
Many are nicely outlined in the Geneva Conventions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] which Israel is a signatory to.
Funny that the person calling me an idiot didn't know about this.
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Youre naive.
No, you're just an amoral piece of shit.
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Despite the massive amounts of them nations had and how they were used previously there was little chemical warfare from either side in WWII so it is possible for nations to war and maintain some amount of restraint.
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You can just say "You're right and I agree" without acting like you are correcting me. These are the reasons for restraint.
These were known in WWI but were used anyways, it's called cost/benefit analysis.
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"hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States" and "other threats to US national security" probably won't include supporting Trump, but they both clearly ought to.
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Interesting how only antisemitic activity is mentioned. Wonder what Israel offers the US in return for that protection?
What if you don't use social media? (Score:2)
I don't use the sorts of social media they're likely to be after (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
Well, I guess you do what everyone will do anyway and create a fake innocuous account.
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Don't worry, this will just get you flagged as lying and lead to an automatic visa denial.
But this will be a temporary measure.
Starting 6 months from now at the latest, you'll be required to join one specific social media if you want to visit, and it won't matter if you need a visa or not. And you'll be subscribed by default for the account of the owner of that social media, the authoritative source of truthiness.
Nope (Score:1, Flamebait)
These guys don't actually believe in free speech. During Covid when a democratic governor shut down a church, they sang the song of the first amendment. When tradiional Catholics were categorized a certain way, they sang the song again. But time and time again you can see that these guys don't actually care. No principles. Why would a college student, foreign or domestic, not want to protest? Or speak out about damn near anything? Or have any of a huge variety of opinions? They have to be super careful now
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The post you reply to hasn't cited a specific law. Because this is not whether it is legal (which it is), or even legitimate as a policy towards foreigner (which it also is). It is about having PRINCIPLES (which the politicians making this sort of decisions demonstrate they don't have).
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So something is not morally wrong if the action is taken on one side of the border against someone on the other side?
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Why do you keep twisting people's words so you can be right?
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Except you're so full of your self you cant accept anything but your own eager to find fault interpretation. What should I expect from a self appointed moral crusader who says things like "people like you espousing toxic drivel like that must be exorcised from the polite conversation." https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org] . Pot calling the kettle black my friend, the only toxicity here is your own eagerness to find fault and inability to see anything but your own easily triggered view.
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Because you can’t be a fan of the current administration without monumental mental gymnastics.
Re:Nope (Score:4, Informative)
No. The US constitution applies to every person on US soil and any person that interacts with the US legal system.
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This is correct. Certain amendments in the Bill of Rights specify "citizens", but the first amendment is not one of them. EVERYONE has the right to free speech in regards to the US government. Which makes forcing them to unlock their social media (and potentially denying them entry based on what they read) unconstitutional.
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So you’re saying that student visa holders are not subject to ANY constitutional rights? Or is it somehow selective?
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You’re saying the first amendment does not apply to students on a visa. I’m asking for clarification on the rest of the rights.
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[b]Congress shall make no law [/b]respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
"Congress" that's who the BOR is directing the limits to. People have inherant rights, and the BoR specifies that the govt can't pass laws taking them away. It doesn't grant rights to certain people. We didn't give the federal govt power to grant rights when we created it.
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these guys don't actually care. No principles.
Oh some people care, Stephen Miller truly cares about a white-America, I mean look at that guy, behold-the-master-race material if there ever was one. A true actual degenerate of a human being and we decided he should be whispering in the ear of POTUS.
Trump however will stop caring as the poll numbers continue dipping down, immigration has been his only positive and it is declining. Trump cares as much as it furthers his interests.
The thing with that and Palantir though is Trump is a bad administrator, he
Are we part of Israel now? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is what it has come to? We will scan for antisemitic activity, but nothing else? So if you post about supporting killing all Muslims, that is not a red flag they are looking for? I can understand wanting to look for anti-american sentiment (not agree with it, but at least understand it). But looking for anti-Israel sentiment and nothing else just says that Israel is running things for the US. How about any type of violence related activity toward anyone?
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It's been that way for quite some time now. The 2003 invasion of Iraq would've been done just for Israel. It never made sense at the time and still doesn't, except if Israel's demands get factored in.
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AIPAC has deep pockets
Welcome to the Land of the Free motherfuckers (Score:1)
Wrongthink is not part of Radical Freedom of Speech(TM).
Are you tired of being Free(TM) yet ?
Foreign College Enrollments Way Down (Score:5, Interesting)
Colleges make a lot of money off foreign students, and enrollments are way, way off, especially from China (the most lucrative group). This is not going to help, but is not nearly as important to prospective students as the brain drain of foreign-born professors who are top in their fields going back to their native countries. Why go to CalTech (or wherever) and pay through the nose for tuition, room and board, transport, etc. when the top researchers that you want to study under are leaving and going back to China and India?
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MAGA wants a brain-drain; thinkers don't vote them.
Going to embarrass the US (Score:3)
A New Yorker reporter was recently deported for reporting on the Columbia student protests [newyorker.com]. This unfriendly climate will kill tourism in America. Then it will have a ripple effect as future presidents and prime ministers go elsewhere to study, killing America's soft power among elites of other countries. And for what? It's not like legal student visa holders were causing a crime wave.
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A New Yorker reporter was recently deported for reporting on the Columbia student protests [newyorker.com]. This unfriendly climate will kill tourism in America. Then it will have a ripple effect as future presidents and prime ministers go elsewhere to study, killing America's soft power among elites of other countries. And for what? It's not like legal student visa holders were causing a crime wave.
At least this shows Europe (Anti-tourism is spreading across Europe [yahoo.com]) a way forward in how to stop tourism
We can play games if you want to play games (Score:2)
Get ready for my single post to twitter that says "whoever forcibly unlocked this is a fascist piece of shit".
No problem (Score:2)
Deep cover espionage agents will have an acceptable social media profile constructed for them as a part of their legend.
Yeah, right, I'm sure that will work. (Score:2)
Ignoring for the moment that these <mumble> think the 1st amendment is an obstacle to get around rather than a guiding principle to try and live up to,
I expect this policy to be about as effective as asking people if they've done anything illegal lately before letting them into the country.
Founding Principles (Score:2)
toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.
Like freedom of expression?
What if you don't have social media accounts... (Score:1)
So screw free speech? (Score:2)
I am fucking tired of this nations law enforcement solution to "just search everything" to every problem. When is law enforcement going to actually do their job of "investigating" stuff? From sec
social media (Score:2)
Scapegoat and excuse (Score:2)