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US Government Begins Asking Foreign Travelers About Social Media (politico.com)
schwit1 quotes a report from Politico: Since Tuesday, foreign travelers arriving in the United States on the visa waiver program have been presented with an "optional" request to "enter information associated with your online presence," a government official confirmed Thursday. The prompt includes a drop-down menu that lists platforms including Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, as well as a space for users to input their account names on those sites. The new policy comes as Washington tries to improve its ability to spot and deny entry to individuals who have ties to terrorist groups like the Islamic State. But the government has faced a barrage of criticism since it first floated the idea last summer. The Internet Association, which represents companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter, at the time joined with consumer advocates to argue the draft policy threatened free expression and posed new privacy and security risks to foreigners. Now that it is final, those opponents are furious the Obama administration ignored their concerns. The question itself is included in what's known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, a process that certain foreign travelers must complete to come to the United States. ESTA and a related paper form specifically apply to those arriving here through the visa-waiver program, which allows citizens of 38 countries to travel and stay in the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. "There are very few rules about how that information is being collected, maintained [and] disseminated to other agencies, and there are no guidelines about limiting the government's use of that information," said Michael W. Macleod-Ball, chief of staff for the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office. "While the government certainly has a right to collect some information... It would be nice if they would focus on the privacy concerns some advocacy groups have long expressed."
Nah, if they lie about it then their visa can be revoked and they can be sent back home, where their hatred of America may be indulged without risk to our own people.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
You jest. This is one of the questions:
"Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?"
Not homicide, mind you, but genocide. You'd think the few people this applies to they'd already know by name.
That must be why the stock market rallied upon Trump's election.
I'm guessing they realize things are bound to improve after 8 years of "War on Jobs, errr, Coal", no-growth "recovery", and shrinking labor participation rates.
That's right, you're guessing (and you're not very good at it).
When President Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 7,949.09 and the unemployment rate was at 9.3 percent.
Today after Obama's two terms in office the Dow Jones is at 19,933.81, which is the highest it's ever been, and the unemployment rate is 4.9 percent, almost half of what it was.
But don't let any of them fuckin' facts get in your way, AC.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...