New US visa rules will force foreign students to unlock social media profiles

The country of free speech, everyone!

You are free to say whatever you like, as long as your words do not contradict Official Party Ideology.

And a right to bear arms, until you need MANPADs to fight the feds.

https://www.twz.com/air/department-of-homeland-security-q-9-...

Unless you want to cross state lines to get an abortion

Some of this goes beyond party. "Anti-semitism" is an AIPAC carve-out and AIPAC owns both parties.

Rights don't apply when you are entering another country. Americans have the right to bear arms too, but good luck with that argument when get caught at the border with weapons.

Reminds me of https://www.germany-visa.org/news/germany-will-include-12-ne...

Are you ok denying visas to students based on the contents of their social media profiles?

What is coming in illegally?

Rights always apply, always. This is the thing about human rights enshrined in human rights laws in places like the EU, or about your constitutional rights (although the latter only applies to US citizens and to people physically present in the US).

However, countries may, depending on their laws, choose to not let certain people in on conditions that would otherwise violate guarantees on freedom of speech etc.

However, you do have your constitutional rights at the border etc. There is an exception concerning searches.

>Gays are vile and should not be allowed to exist.

Would you be ok with that social media poster being granted entry into the country?

You're expected to be truthful in your visa application, and not being truthful is grounds for visa rejection.

The courts haven't ruled on that yet but interstate commerce clause is pretty explicit about this kind of thing. A state can't criminalize someone going to another state to do something as that is something reserved to the federal government.

So no, there is no restriction on going to another state to get an abortion.

several states are trying to change that. laws are being proposed to ban travel, and although they are being challenged, as you said, the last word on this is not spoken yet.

and even if legal, people having an out-of-state abortion are being sued. that alone is a big restriction, because what good is a right if you don't have the means to defend yourself when that right is being challenged.

They’d be welcomed with open arms in ~30% of the country. Screening for thought crimes isn’t a slippery slope, it’s a frictionless plane.

Do I think it's the best use of taxpayers' dollars (ie, mine) to screen for objectionable content on social media? No.

Do I trust the government to police opinions? No, especially when there's no accountability and appeals process.

Do I believe the overall benefits that harassment-free international travel brings to this country outweigh the costs of letting in some visitors whose views I disagree with? Yes.

Yes

> You are free to say whatever you like, as long as your words do not contradict Official Party Ideology.

“There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.” ― Idi Amin

I wouldn't exactly be jumping for joy over it, but that's a juice that's not worth the squeeze.

If the contents of their social media would be a crime in the US I would have no issues with denying visa to students.

I'm a bit skeptical that students are a big source of trouble. The vast majority come here, pay universities a lot of money, spend additional money in the local community, get their degrees, and then go home or maybe stay and work in generally high paying jobs, continuing to contribute to the local economy.

All that said, nobody has a "right" to come to the USA to study. It's something we allow, for a lot of good reasons, but there are doubtless a small number of people that we would not want here.

That depends a lot on the constitutional right. They're, generally, phrased as restrictions on the federal government (assumed to apply to state governments under incorporation post civil war).

There are a lot of times the government is limited even dealing with foreigners abroad (in legal theory anyways, ymmv in reality).

People in the US are free to say whatever they want.

But not everyone can just come to the US, and looking at what they've said is part of deciding whether they can.

That’s different that policing social media tho

What action would you take re such posters who are citizens in the country?