'Censorship pure and simple': critics hit out at Trump plan to vet visitors' social media

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/11/trump-plan-vet-us-visitors-social-media-tourism

Free speech advocates have accused Donald Trump of “shredding civil liberties” and “censorship pure and simple” after the White House said it planned to require visa applicants from dozens of countries to provide social media, phone and email histories for vetting before being allowed into the US.

In a move that some commentators compared to China and others warned would decimate tourism to the US, including the 2026 Fifa World Cup, the Department for Homeland Security said it was planning to apply the rules to visitors from 42 countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, France, Germany and Japan, if they want to enter the US on the commonly used Esta visa waiver.

“The seriousness of this move should not be downplayed,” said Jemimah Steinfeld, the chief executive of Index on Censorship in London. “Through a simple search any posts critical of Trump and his administration could be revealed and then what? Will admission to the USA be predicated on being nice about the president? That would be censorship pure and simple and the result will extend far beyond as people start to self-censor to keep the door to the USA open to them.”

Amnesty International UK called the plan “wildly out of proportion to any legitimate border need”.

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[cbabe]

1. Like the early days of tsa when private naked body photos were

being sold. I betcha a wooden nickel private photos and info and finances and identities will stolen and sold.

Like ice is stealing from detainees.

[malaise]

2. Excellent point

Another link

Chart of U.S. Tourism Post-Trump Election Resurfaces as New Rules Drop

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-social-media-disclosure-travel-rule-us-tourism-decline-11194953

A data graphic highlighting how European travel to the United States was reported to have declined earlier this year has resurfaced on Threads following a new travel rule proposed by the Donald Trump administration.

According to a notice published in the Federal Register on December 10, the administration has proposed a measure that would require all foreign tourists applying for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to disclose up to five years of their social media history before they can travel to the U.S.

In a Threads post uploaded on Wednesday, user @davidmorehouse shared a screenshot of a data graphic titled: “The number of Europeans travelling to the US has cratered under Trump.”

The caption shared with the Threads post says: “European tourism numbers, thus far. Me: I think we're gonna need a bigger chart.” The post has amassed 77,700 views and hundreds of comments, with several criticizing the proposed measure.

[dalton99a]

3. .

"Wow — even China doesn't do this," Bethany Allen, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Head of China investigations, wrote on X.

"Buckle up, US airlines, hotels, hospitality companies, places like NY, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Hawaii. Market share will shift to places that welcome tourists," pollster and strategist Bruce Anderson wrote on X.

"Oh the irony! Especially given their rhetoric on 'free speech' vis a vis Europe. Incidentally this is something we often believe China is doing but that's not true at all: I researched it and there's never been a case of a tourist stopped at the Chinese border for what they posted on social media (they don't ask, don't check and don't care). So we're now in a world where the US ironically might have the singlemost restrictive policy on free speech in the world when it comes to this," entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand wrote on X.

"BREAKING: The tourism industry is COLLAPSING because of Trump," Spencer Hakimian, founder of Tolou Capital Management, wrote on X.

https://www.rawstory.com/reax-trump-tourism/?utm_source=superhead

[malaise]

4. The king of MAGA (Mangy Aged Grumpy Asshole) does not give a flying fugg

He will soon be dead and gone

[durablend]

5. Let's hope so

[malaise]

6. Indeed

Rec