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.

It will be Tommy Robinson. The pro Trump lot always use him as an example of the UK being against free speech, and they conveniently ignore that he's a thug who incites violence against minorities and that his most recent prison stint was for contempt of court.

Well how about that, that'll do it. not as innocent or as much of a "victim" as the media wanted to portray.

As an aside, a British person caught mishandling classified information and then attempting to conceal would face UK criminal proceedings and prison.

And / or an awfull lot of people won't bother traveling there in the first place.

It will be interesting to see what the Trump effect will have on tourism this summer.

There are good reasons why you'd want the guidelines to be loose, it makes them more flexible - useful when terrorism is ever changing. That's fine as long as the person tasked with implementing them applies reason when making their decision. Until now you could generally trust them to do that. Now it appears that they're being misused.

Regarding that quote from a spokesman, looking at her political background I have difficulty trusting her when she denies that it's politicised. She's no impartial civil servant like we have in these roles in the UK. Her word is as trustworthy as Karoline Leavitt.

Could you name those jailed for criticising Starmer or any prime minister please?

I never mentioned criticism of Starmer. Maybe read my posts?

Do you know why people were jailed for social media posts?

There's some data and reasons here that might help you

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0028z

AlisonDonut · Today 08:22

WavyRavey · Today 07:31
Wait till you find out that any country can actually deport you for comments against their leader or government :O

The UK even jails its citizens for it.

I obviously misunderstood. When you said that the UK jails its citizens for comments against its leader or government you meant what?

The fact that things called "non-crime hate incidents" exist is clearly Orwellian. If no crime has been committed, why do these things exist?

I'm much more concerned with what is happening in the UK.

It doesn't.

The researcher wasn't pulled aside and searched for being anti-Trump. The "scientist" had classified information from Los Alamos on their phone. That's espionage, and the researcher should be happy that being sent back to France is the only thing that happened.

Huh?

Lots of people were jailed last year for social media posts. In the UK.

And I'm not Pro Trump. I'm pro not being so fucking useless that Trump gets in. I detest him and vowed to never return to the USA even though I have family there, whilst he was in office. And I've not been back since 2016.

If you have a bugbear about Tommy Robinson that's your crusade. The authorities in the UK are determined to make him a hero, by treating him like a political prisoner, which again, makes people feel sorry for him and increases his popularity.

I don't like the concept of NCHIs and I am glad that their use hit the press a while ago. I think that it's great that we have a free press and an independent judiciary, which hold the government to account. Have you seen the censorship going on in the US at the moment? AP and Reuters banned from White House press conferences for calling the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of Mexico"? Lawyers representing claimants against the US government having their security clearances revoked so that they cannot do their jobs? The US government wilfully ignoring court injunctions?

Jailed for inciting violent disorder and racial hatred, hth

People were jailed for inciting violence. Not for merely criticising the dear leader.

So people were jailed for social media posts then?

Do you think that people sit there waiting for random people to post on social media and then say 'right, that's it, I'm off to go do violence now'?
That's not how violence works.
If people were riled up it was due to the misinformation given out by the police and government, which was confirmed by the police lead in Southport. So maybe they should be the ones behind bars.

Maybe you should start your own thread and see if people agree with that view?

Do you think that a crime isn't a crime if its committed by way of social media posts? If someone was jailed for posting images of child sex abuse on social media, would you be moaning about that too?

Incitement to violence is a crime

doesnt matter whether its online or in the middle of a march or on a soapbox somewhere

someone can steal my purse and someone else can hack my bank account and take my money…its still theft

I would because people who post images of child sex abuse should be [redacted but much worse than jailed]. Because that is an actual crime. However, many, many people found guilty of actually making, posessing or sharing images of child sex abuse are never jailed at all.

Is there ever, or has there ever been, any cases where posts on social media have actually 'incited violence'?

If the government make an announcement which is a complete and utter lie, and it causes violence, is that not 'incitement to violence'?

Wasn't the violence already happening in a numebr of cases, in which case they were not inciting anything. Indeed one person was jailed for videoing it.

If the government make an announcement which is a complete and utter lie, and it causes violence, is that not 'incitement to violence'?

no

I find border control terrifying so even if Tango wasn't the president, this would be enough to scare me into not going! 😂

I have heard from a business friend that this happened to their colleague. They were denied entry due to anti-Trump posts on their social media. I think you need to delete all your SM apps and whatsapp on your phone if you must go.

Several members of punk band UK Subs were also prevented from entering the US for a gig. Also suspected to be due to anti Trump comments.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/uk-subs-band-detained-deported

Here the post you quoted and your reply to it:
WavyRavey · Today 07:31
Wait till you find out that any country can actually deport you for comments against their leader or government :O

AlisonDonut · Today 08:22
The UK even jails its citizens for it.

Now, who has been jailed for "comments against their leader or government"?

They were always able to check you on entry - previously, it was for attempting to work while on tourist visa. Someone I know was detained and deported because they were planning to volunteer at a summer camp! Getting into US was always was unpleasant, I was always asked intrusive questions like "why are you not living here when your mum is a citizen" - none of your fucking business, but of course you had to be polite and state your case.

I'm not surprised at the phone checking thing - this is what his matey Putin does, Russia is also a fucking unpleasant place to visit (I went to Moscow a couple of years before the Ukrainian invasion).