Are you going to the USA? Just make sure you've not said anything nasty about Trump or your phone might get searched and you won't be allowed in

[cakeorwine]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained

I wonder what he said in his private messages that were looked at when US Border Agents looked at his phone.

“I learned with concern that a French researcher” on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) “who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled”, Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, said in a statement on Monday to Agence France-Presse published by Le Monde. “This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy,” the minister added.

"Another AFP source said that US authorities accused the French researcher of “hateful and conspiratorial messages”. He was reportedly also informed of an FBI investigation, but told that “charges were dropped” before being expelled."

Clearly some people might need a burner phone. And be careful of your social media use.

Yes!

I’m shocked they have the right to search your phone!

That’s not an America thing though is it checking phones, That’s a border security thing.

Exactly! Oxford don more likely to be a spy than a terrorist!

Wait till you find out that any country can actually deport you for comments against their leader or government :O

Vance is telling USA citizens that UK/Europe are dictatorships with no free speech and many in the US will believe him and think that they have it better... that is why Vance is constantly talking Europe down (also plays well for Putin, conveniently)

What do you think about this: https://nationalpost.com/news/canadian-woman-speaks-out-about-her-treatment-in-u-s-detention

The UK even jails its citizens for it.

UK customs also have the right to search your 'phoneand I assume most other countries

Are we banning senior academics and comics writers and expelling diplomats from friendly countries?

And if the US Border and Immigration people searched it, looked at your social media and saw negative comments about Trump, then what could happen?

Trump is a cunt. Oops! There goes my trip to Vegas. Lucky me! 🤣

The UK, and the world, are dealing with an entirely different and ruthless government and President. Trumps pettiness is renowned, he has a list of people he is currently seeking revenge on. A list that Biden felt the need to give preemptive pardons to. Even if his accusations have no basis, all trump has to do is sue them and the accused end up bankrupt from the legal process of defending themselves. He doesn't care.

There is a reason people don't routinely go on holiday to Iran or Iraq because they have no diplomatic sway, imagine inadvertently breaking the law in the USA, well Dick-tator trump would enjoy lording it over any country (except Russia) if asked for diplomatic leniency. But imagine if all over your instagram, tiktok, facebook you are sticking it to trump...yeah ....don't expect him/them to be reasonable.

The latest report is that this isn't about his comments on anyone.

Good grief. The USA is starting to resemble North Korea.

Avoid all the grief by going to Canada 🍁 instead.

I would imagine absolutely nothing unless i had already been flagged as a person of interest.
What do you think would happen if uk customs searched your 'phone and found messages slating our government?

mostcustome world wide have the right to

Everyone needs to watch the border security programme, nothing to declare. Everywhere outside of Ireland is overly aggressive. The Irish one looks like a spoof documentary, by comparison.

There is no way that anyone in the UK can talk about the USA being like North Korea when people are jailed for social media posts.

This. Millions of people have anti trump sentiments on social media or private messages.

But if it crosses over into the 'if I had a gun I'd shoot him' type sentiment then it arguably becomes something else. I also suspect many people have expressed this with zero intention of doing any such thing but if you had messages of that kind about anyone else then you might expect it to be taken seriously.

There will undoubtedly be more too this than calling him an orange nut job.

I have to be there soon so will clean up my WhatsApp 🤦🏾‍♀️

When you apply for your ESTA you have to provide your social media handles. Yes, you do need to be concerned.

I’m quite prepared to believe that there was more to the French scientist than we know but I don’t believe for one minute they genuinely believe that anything he was saying was “terrorist “ in nature. A German tourist was detained for over 2 weeks because she was travelling with tattooing equipment so there’s no way in hell they would simply be sending a potential terrorist back. If they had any evidence of terrorism he would be in detention.

SIL as an English tourist was detained in America in the early 1990’s for not having the correct visa, bit complicated to explain but was an error on her part.