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Comment by SilverElfin | Hacker News Reader

They’re also forcing visa applicants to share their social media publicly, like the authoritarian America is supposed to be better than:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/a...

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Guess I'm not getting in as someone having no social media. Not that I'd want to.

You can list your GitHub as your (only) social media. Has always worked for me so far without comment.

Make a fake profile with basic AI generated fake content?

Feels like a startup idea: "where do you want to go?" And it generates a virtual life for you compatible with the current despot.

You've upgraded a visa denial to a Federal crime. Congratulations!

That and the TSA circus is actively dissuading me from tourism in the US. I don’t need their bullshit in my life certainly not when trying to have a nice holiday

The "TSA circus" is not any different in other countries' airports.

It is in my experience - easily the most unpleasant experience of all the countries I’ve visited.

Even places with intense security concerns like Israel was better. More intense than the US but less powertripping assholes (no doubt this comment will get me into trouble too given their invasive social media bullshit)

Really depends on a country. Most countries's border crossing is not comparable to USA/UK/Israel.

TSA is not responsible for border crossings, they handle security.

The original dissatisfaction was with the whole travel/airplane/border process, no matter who is officially responsible. TSA is a government agency.

To be a bit more precise:

Asking people for their social media accounts is not new, it's a part of the visa application process since Trump's first term.

What's new is that now on top of that, they're asking people for those social media accounts to be public.

It has been asked in the ESTA for a long long time, afaik even before Trump.

But can we please remember that there is a huge huge difference between being asked to provide it optionally, to being required to provide it.

Okay, let me be even more clear then: it is required to fill out every social media handle and every phone number you've used for the past 5 years as a part of the DS-160 form (AKA online non-migratory visa application for countries not covered by ESTA).

That's been the case since 2019. Before that, asking to hand that info out even voluntarily was widely seen as an overreach. Now, it's required for countries not covered by ESTA and still voluntary for ESTA countries.

I don't have any "social media" accounts. I guess they won't believe me, and would deny me a visa based on the assumption that I am lying.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

(I have family and lots of close friends in the US. I miss them all. But I don't intend to visit given the way things are over there these days. _Maybe_ after the next administration change? Depending on how things change? But I've come to accept I may never visit again.)

I already missed a funeral on account of all this bs. But it just doesn't seem worth the hassle any more to go there. It is frustrating because I have more friends on that side of the Atlantic than I do in the EU. But the last interaction with US border patrol was enough to sour me for the rest of my life.

I've been to the US multiple times this year and it's really not much different from how its been for the last decades. If you are choosing to to not go to events that you would want to attend over this you only have yourself to blame.

Your experience does not necessarily have to equal my experience. Note that I did give a reason.

> I don't have any "social media" accounts.

You do have an HN account. And it's public! Just don't get caught giving a shit about facts.

I only have bluesky with only work posts, nothing else. I've gotten a visa in last few months. Even though I never went because of the situation. Needed to get a visa for potential work related stuff which eventually could be worked around.

The US probably has the ability to call your bluff on that. NSA says hi

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