936

A 21-year-old tourist has described the horrendous treatment he allegedly received after being denied entry to the USA due to a meme depicting JD Vance as bald being found on his phone

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz 243 points 1 month ago

Our leaders are NOT Snowflakes or Emotional!

[-] limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 70 points 1 month ago
[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 176 points 1 month ago

This not only has been going on awhile, it's worse than it sounds.

A French scientist was denied entry at the border earlier this year, in March, after officers unearthed messages criticising Trump on his phone.

Mikkelsen explained: "They threatened me with a minimum fine of $5,000 or five years in prison if I refused to provide the password to my phone."

[-] XLE@piefed.social 72 points 1 month ago

Any idea if these threats are actionable? He's not a US citizen to just fine or imprison.

[-] flandish@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago

they are not legal, as the first amendment applies even to noncitizens. however that doesn’t mean they can’t deny entry for “any” reason. they are fascist after all.

[-] PunnyName@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

Basically like firing you from work for discrimination isn't legal, but firing you for performance is (your performance being anything they wish to come up with).

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago

Depressingly, SCOTUS has ruled that you really don't have the same rights at border crossings as you do once you've passed through.

This applies to citizens as well as foreign nationals.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 106 points 1 month ago

This can't be true because conservatives always cry about free speech.

If this is true then that means conservatives are massive hypocritical assholes.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

You don't think they would do that?

Just go on the internet and tell lies?

[-] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 105 points 1 month ago

imagine going on holiday in a country where they check your phone for memes

seeing the grand canyon seems cool but it can wait until that lunatic and his friends are gone

[-] Microw@piefed.zip 29 points 1 month ago

Keep in mind that TSA searching peoples' phones was already policy under the last few administrations. Which is part of why I wasnt interested in traveling there even before the lunatic.

[-] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 1 month ago

I've been avoiding travel to the US since the Patriot Act that followed 9/11 started that kind of shit and more in general the US started moving away from Democracy and into Autocracy.

Last time I felt like traveling to the North American continent I just went to Canada instead for a whole month - sea kayaking in British Columbia, hiking in the Canadian Rockies, sightseeing in Quebec . Highly recommended by the way.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee 17 points 1 month ago

Absolutely!

I have family in the US. Uncles and aunts and cousins. One of my cousins have a child who I've never met. I would love to meet them all.

But there is no way I'm going to the states in the current condition. And even if the administration would be replaced, I think it would take years for the states to recover to the point where I would visit.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[-] No_Bark@lemmy.dbzer0.com 80 points 1 month ago

The United States is such a shithole country lol

No one should travel there.

[-] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 month ago

Um excuse me, who else can defend peace and freedom and democracy? They make all the best weapons!

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] RandAlThor@lemmy.ca 63 points 1 month ago
[-] TrippaSnippa@aussie.zone 31 points 1 month ago

I have never had my phone searched for memes (or at all, for that matter) when entering China.

[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 month ago

Tankies should be ecstatic.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] mofreak 12 points 1 month ago

what are we, a bunch of asians?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (22 replies)
[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 52 points 1 month ago

Please be satire, please be satire...

reads

...Oh, fuck.

[-] XLE@piefed.social 20 points 1 month ago

Sorry for the mediocre source, but it looks like it got its facts and translation right.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 39 points 1 month ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] teft@lemmy.world 39 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Same thing i asked the other guy who posted this.

Do you have a source that isn’t a tabloid? The only other sources i found were other tabloids.

I’m sure horrible shit is happening but tabloids aren't news. They are meant to get an emotional reaction via mistruths and exaggeration. And you having a one day old account makes this even more suspect.

[-] Yaysuz@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago

It was reported first by Nordlys, a local newspaper based in Tromsø, and then picked up by ofher Norwegian media. The story is most likely true.

https://www.nordlys.no/mads-sin-drommereise-til-usa-spolert-pa-grunn-av-satirebilde-pa-mobilen/s/5-34-2171723

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] StarlightDust 37 points 1 month ago

See - this is the thing with people going on about how its so oppressive in countries outside of "The West" where they will arrest people for insulting their king on Facebook or some shit.

We are no better. I'm not American but Britain does the same kind of shit. Read some declassified police case files, the cops pick on weird shit on people's phones.

[-] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 19 points 1 month ago

I've been in Britain before, they didn't check my phone

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[-] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 1 month ago

But, but Elon told me comedy was legal now!

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Mads Mikkelsen

[-] TheAristocrat@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

If you are doing any international travel, leave your personal phone at home and bring a burner.

[-] normis@lemm.ee 41 points 1 month ago

I have traveled the world, I just returned from China. Nobody has ever asked for my phone. This is crazy and it's definitely not the norm and is not happening even in very strict regime countries. This is the new USA.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] BurningRiver@beehaw.org 23 points 1 month ago

JD Vance meme

No, that’s just how he looks.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 month ago

Just get a burner to travel. Quit bringing your phones here.

[-] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 70 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Better yet, don't go at all. Go to a country that's still a democracy.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] idriss@lemm.ee 21 points 1 month ago
[-] archchan@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

He claims he was then strip-searched, forced to give blood samples, a facial scan and fingerprints.

Imagine having your biometrics taken and your blood forcibly siphoned by state-backed goons with guns for a meme.

Heads need to roll.

[-] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 month ago

Lets teach that uneducated moron Vance the Streisand effect.

[-] glitching@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

not reading that. lemmy devs, please get on blocking "news" sources in the vein of sun, nypost, etc.

edit: I don't mean the mods should ban domains. I want the option to not show submissions from certain domains, like the ones I mentioned, as there's zero chance I'd ever read anything from them. a buncha reddit (and lemmy) clients have that option.

load more comments (15 replies)
[-] KarlHungus42@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

Welcome to the new authoritarian America. Brought to you by craven politicians and a huge group of dipshits who consistently vote against their best interests because they only consume information straight from the sewer pipe that is fox news. Free speech is under threat more with each passing day, and once the Palantir database is complete, they are really going to go all out with their oppression.

[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 month ago

We're just another one of those feckless authoritarian countries with weird-ass laws about not mocking or criticizing the government now. It's pathetic.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2025
936 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy

3366 readers
39 users here now

Welcome! This is a community for all those who are interested in protecting their privacy.

Rules

PS: Don't be a smartass and try to game the system, we'll know if you're breaking the rules when we see it!

  1. Be civil and no prejudice
  2. Don't promote big-tech software
  3. No apathy and defeatism for privacy (i.e. "They already have my data, why bother?")
  4. No reposting of news that was already posted
  5. No crypto, blockchain, NFTs
  6. No Xitter links (if absolutely necessary, use xcancel)

Related communities:

Some of these are only vaguely related, but great communities.

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS