US Ordered 'Mandatory Social Media Check' For Visa Applicants Who Visited ISIS Territory (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered a "mandatory social media check" on all visa applicants who have ever visited ISIS-controlled territory, according to diplomatic cables obtained by Reuters. The four memos were sent to American diplomatic missions over the past two weeks, with the most recent issued on March 17th. According to Reuters, they provide details into a revised screening process that President Donald Trump has described as "extreme vetting." A memo sent on March 16th rescinds some of the instructions that Tillerson outlined in the previous cables, including an order that would have required visa applicants to hand over all phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts that they have used in the past. The secretary of state issued the memo after a Hawaii judge blocked the Trump administration's revised travel ban on citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries. In addition to the social media check, the most recent memo calls for consular officials to identify "populations warranting increased scrutiny." Two former government officials tell Reuters that the social media order could lead to delays in processing visa applications, with one saying that such checks were previously carried out on rare occasions.

Comments

I don't have any you insensitive clod!

[amxcoder]

What if I don't have any social media accounts. And what constitutes a "Social Media Account"? Is this just the big ones like Facebook and Twitter? Or does it include all of the off-shoots that tweens are into these days like Instagram, SnapChat, etc.? How about defunct Social Media Accounts like MySpace?

Does it include ANY website that you communicate, like our very own Slashdot, and any random forum you belong too for hobbies, and GitHub and other sites that facilitate communicating with others over certain topics?

The reason for this is to find "terrorists", but how many terrorists are dumb enough to give over their accounts that they use to actively proclaim jihad on the world with? I understand you have to vet people for certain things, but I'm not sure how this will really help, being that it sounds like it's on the "honor" system that you are being truthful and turning all of your accounts over. It also has the flaw in that it assumes that you have Social Media accounts to begin with which many people do not.

Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod!

[Brett Buck]

The reason for this is to find "terrorists", but how many terrorists are dumb enough to give over their accounts that they use to actively proclaim jihad on the world with?

        A lot of them, actually. ISIS is very active about it, in fact. I think both the French and Monaco truck-ramming idiots had posts on some social media about jihad. Same with the idiots who shot up the theater.

        These guys are not criminal masterminds, nor are they particularly crafty or intelligent. Something this simple wouldn't stop all of them, but it would at least flag some of them.

Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod!

[dbIII]

but it would at least flag some of them.

I doubt it. This is just another example of "something must be done" - spinning wheels to show that there is action but not actually going anywhere.
It's just going to piss off a lot of people and make Bin Laden's ghost laugh at how even the people who like the USA enough to actually want to visit are being encouraged to hate it by little Hitlers on border duty.

Re:I don't have any you insensitive clod!

[jandersen]

Easy, if you don't have a social media account, your visa is denied. No skin off our asses.

Ah, yet another 'easy solution'. Yes, I suppose you can be an idiot about if you like, but the thing is, if you consistently behave like an idiot, you will end up being considered an idiot. I can sort of follow the thinking behind this sort of rule, but it is just so heart-breakingly naive. What will happen is that good, honest, well-intentioned people will, as always, be the ones that lose out; the ones that genuinely don't use social media will be under suspicion, whereas if you are an extremist with a busy life on social media, you will just extend the double-life you are probably already living, and have a social media persona that is all about "America is the greatest, Amen, I love democracy, ain't Trump just great?" which they and their pals can laugh themselves silly about, while they continue their real activities under an assumed name. No sweat. And on top of this, the good, patriotic people that make up the majority of the security establishments in the US will loathe being made to act like stupid bullies, so after some time they will probably want to leave - and then all you'll have is the leftovers, the ones that enjoy bullying. How is that good for America?

Uh.... what?

[mark-t]

...required visa applicants to hand over all phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts that they have used in the past

*ever*???

Personally, I know I wouldn't even be able to begin to comply with this kind of demand. I don't remember all of the old phone numbers I've had. All social media accounts? Does that include aliases on bulletin board systems from the 1980's? Again, I couldn't comply because I don't remember them all. I probably have about a half dozen expired email accounts at old internet service providers, some of which don't even exist anymore, where I can maybe remember half of them.

Re:Uh.... what?

[chipschap]

I was once asked to list every address I had ever lived at. That's just about impossible unless you stayed in the house into which you were born for your whole life.

Re:So now Trump controls where we vacation

[Anonymous Coward]

You need a visa to return to the US after vacation? Or did you miss that part of the full title.

Non-citizens who want to take a vacation with our enemies have volunteered for a little extra scrutiny when they then want to visit us.

Re:Here's the actual problem,

[ooloorie]

Any information you hand over is you consenting to a search. They will make feel like you can't get into the country without a social media account. That's not true. It's just a scare tactic.

Admission of non-citizens into the US is not a right and is not subject to due process. Non-citizens can be denied entry for arbitrary reasons, not just in the US but also in all other countries on the planet. How do I know? I have lived in half a dozen countries and immigrated to the US.

Even as a citizen, you can be searched at the border.

It's just 9/11 united in hatred and ignorance bullshit group think all over again.

The "ignorance and group think" is people like you who confuse legal protections of citizens with immigration procedures.

I wanna know where are all the NAACP related groups and protestors on this?

Quite apart from the legal issues, the NAACP stands up for the rights and advancement of a population that suffers from, on average, lower education, lower skills, and lower incomes. What possible reason would the NAACP have to advocate the admission into the US of even more people who compete for already scarce low skill jobs?

Re:Here's the actual problem,

[Strider-]

And it's for Visa applications from people who like to hang out with ISIS, which should be an automatic denial in any sane world.

Or all the folks who worked as contractors supporting US efforts in the region. I'm not in a Visa country, but I've been to several areas that have been controlled by Daesh, working as a civilian contractor.

Re: Telephone Game: Racist Edition

[K. S. Kyosuke]

You're literally worse than the stinking Communists that actually let me visit my West German grandfather.

Re:Here's the actual problem,

[dryeo]

Admission of non-citizens into the US is not a right and is not subject to due process. Non-citizens can be denied entry for arbitrary reasons, not just in the US but also in all other countries on the planet.

On the other hand, the US signed a treaty (actually a couple) that says my wife and son, both not citizens of the USA, can wander into the USA any time they want. According to the American Constitution, treaties are the second highest law of the land, just below the Constitution. Of course America being America, all it takes is a Supreme Court Justice to say, "no, the Constitution actually means something else" and America has a long history of breaking their own laws and especially treaties. Probably the reason they dropped the u out of honour.
Through other treaties and such, my son also has the right to go to a few other countries as well.

I keep hearing this....

[Anonymous Coward]

But shouldn't Saudi Arabia top that list, followed by Turkey and only then Iran and any other 'extremist' countries?

America's bedfellows are the biggest terrorist supporters in the Middle East, bar none.

Re:"vacation"

[TheRaven64]

It's been over a decade since the US tightened the visa restrictions so that everyone wanting to come into the country as a practicing journalist must have a visa, even if they're from one of the visa-waiver countries. You can bet that if you tick that box, you're already going to come under a lot of extra scrutiny (and if you don't, but then publish anything written about your time in the USA, expect to be denied entry the next time).

Re: So now Trump controls where we vacation

[kilfarsnar]

I admire billionaires. I seek to be rich like they are. Why wouldn't you? Do you like being a poor chump?

Personally, it's because I believe that behind every great fortune is a great crime. You can't accumulate money at that scale without fucking people over in some way.