Summary
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a rule that requires visa applicants to disclose their social media accounts to the U.S. government.
The rule, which went into effect in 2019, applies to visa applicants from all countries.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, two U.S.-based documentary film organizations, argued that the rule violated the First Amendment rights of visa applicants.
It’s unclear if the plaintiffs plan to appeal the ruling.
Additional Details
The rule requires visa applicants to disclose their social media identifiers, including pseudonymous accounts, for the past five years.
The plaintiffs argued that the rule would chill free speech and association, as visa applicants would be less likely to express themselves on social media if they knew that the government could see their posts.
The ruling is a reminder of the challenges faced by people who want to protect their privacy online.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
[Matrix/Element]Dead
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
It seems more or less. Have you seen the recent news about US government’s arrangement to have an eastern European country running a platform to collect data on its own citizens to skirt around the warrant law? If citizens are being treated as such, how are non-citizens being treated?
No I haven’t, and that’s extremely alarming. Got a link handy?
https://www.404media.co/revealed-the-country-that-secretly-wiretapped-the-world-for-the-fbi/
It’s already behind a paywall. But it was really a sting operation, using fake “secure” phones, to catch criminals, by skirting constitutional requirements.
I used to buy a particular Lithuanian product no longer available here. I need the rest of the story! Thanks. I’ll do some searching at some point.
Forget eastern Europe, that’s the whole premise of Five Eyes. The UK spies on American citizens and gives it to the NSA, and vice versa.