this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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This was already the case under Biden (since 2019 at least), and many other countries do the same. Asking for social media usernames when applying for a visa was already a normalized part of the process, so to me this is basically a nothingburger.
Shit, I didn't realize you were so young. Back in the 90s, before 9/11, none of these disclosure requirements existed; only a customs declaration was required to enter the country, and the naturalization process consisted of paying a fee, taking a test, and swearing an oath. We used to associate this sort of disclosure requirement with petty kingdoms like Bahrain or Thailand, where there are laws against insulting the monarch and therefore a justification for thought police. We shouldn't let any of the four presidents who have slid us into fascism avoid the blame.
I was there :) And yes you're right, but also social media didn't really exist at the time as we know it now.
The difference is that the US is now denying visas based solely on whether the applicants political speech aligns with the Nazi party.
None of this shit is normal if you understand context and nuance.
What they’re saying is that handling your social handles was always part of a visa application process (at least as far back as 2016). So saying that they now want that is a lie. And there’s zero reason to lie to show the current administration is bad. There’s plenty of truth out there that does the job very well.
It may have existed before but it's pretty clear this is about weeding out dissenting opinions, to my knowledge the only thing that would previously disqualify you would be extremist opinions that aligned with terrorist groups. Now if at any point you've criticized the actions of MAGA then you're probably SOL. You'd probably be disqualified for saying Elon is a moron. Trying to downplay this as "not news" is pretty disingenuous considering they've shown they don't care about the law or anyone's constitutional rights.