France’s research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration.

  • @Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    1164 months ago

    The Nazis literally did this with a law. They made it illegal to be critical of the party. Fuck the alarm, we’ve already been had.

    • Hikuro-93
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      4 months ago

      Yup. “But we’re not there yet”, so they say. “Too soon to act rashly”.

      'First they started mass deportations, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.

      Then they started refusing people who were critical of them, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.

      Then they started blatantly taking money from the poor and give it to the rich, but it wasn’t a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.

      Finally they fully took over the nation, but by then all the people who would have acted were already gone and dealt with.’

      Not all, but the gist of it. Thankfully some bubbles of resistance are starting to form in the US, but the main people who were elected to uphold the law and fight this democraticly are already bribed or blackmailed, so it’s in great part up to the people, and whatever stance the army ends up taking when they are forced to choose between loyalty to the constitution, or an individual.

    • @misteloct@lemmy.world
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      03 months ago

      Please don’t say “Nazis”. Like, which Nazis, the 1940s German ones or 2025 American ones? It’s confusing. Please be clear next time you talk about them.

        • @blurcosp@leminal.space
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          13 months ago

          Yeah, but when you say “The Nazis literally did this with a law” it’s not entirely clear if you mean the German Nazis from the 1940s or the American Nazis from the 2020s

  • @athairmor@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?

    Make sure you turn off biometrics before traveling. They can’t force you to disclose a passcode.

    EDIT: Actually, if you have to travel to the USA, wipe your phone before you leave.

    • @jonne@infosec.pub
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      384 months ago

      IIRC they can compel you to unlock your phone. Or just deny you entry if you don’t. It’s best to make sure you travel with a ‘clean’ phone and PC, border patrol got ridiculous powers in the patriot act and nobody’s ever rolled any of it back despite decades of abuses.

    • @Technoworcester@lemm.eeOP
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      194 months ago

      They can still make your life difficult though. I think the better option is don’t fly into or through US territory if you can help it.

    • @cygnus@lemmy.ca
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      64 months ago

      How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?

      I was looking for this as well. It seems like a rather important piece of info for the article to leave out.

    • @philpo@feddit.org
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      54 months ago

      They will also ask you for your password for online accounts and refuse entry if you don’t. And as we have all seen recently that does not necessarily mean “next flight home”.

    • @Sabin10@lemmy.world
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      44 months ago

      If you have an android device, setup a second user account with nothing on it and use that when going through customs.

    • @Branch_Ranch@lemmy.world
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      04 months ago

      So, what if I as an american, travel to canada. On my re-entry, am i going to get my phone searched for anti-maga stuff?

      • @athairmor@lemmy.world
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        14 months ago

        They could try. They can compel you to open it with Face ID or fingerprint. If that’s turned off they cannot compel you to disclose your passcode. They can seize your phone. They cannot prevent you from entering the country.

        They’re probably only going to do it with some kind of suspicion. But that suspicion could be the border protection officer is having a bad day.

  • Hikuro-93
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    4 months ago

    Hey, that’s a good thing in my book, I guess.

    Same way as America prospered with talent fleeing a corrupt Europe in the past, now Europe can get that lost talent back from a corrupt America. The more they feel unwelcome and undervalued the more they will flock or stay wherever their talent can flourish and advance our progress as a society.

    No complaints from me on that. 🤷‍♂️

  • @despicable@lemmy.today
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    54 months ago

    Translation: if you’re going to the US you might have to immediately find a flight back because their government might go through your phone and find out that you rightfully criticised their great orange leader. Glad I managed to visit before, America can go and choke on their aspirations.

  • Cosmic Cleric
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    4 months ago

    immigration officers at an airport searched his phone

    There’s no mention in the article if this search was voluntary, or not.

    Edit: For the downvoters, please point out where I was wrong; I’d honestly really like to know if it was voluntary or not.

    This comment is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    • @catloaf@lemm.ee
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      34 months ago

      It’s “voluntary” in the sense that either you allow it or you don’t get into the country.

      • Aatube
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        54 months ago

        That’s forced. Since when was it a thing?

          • Aatube
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            44 months ago

            A 2-1 circuit split means that the 2 currently prevails, thus making border searching of electronics illegal unless you’re within the 11th’s jurisdiction (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, while the guy was arrested traveling to a Texas conference), no?

            In 2014, the US Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Riley v. California, which held that law enforcement officials violated the Fourth Amendment when they searched an arrestee’s cellphone without a warrant. The court explained, “Modern cell phones are not just another technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans ‘the privacies of life.’ The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.”[15]

            In 2013, before Riley was decided, the Ninth Circuit court of appeals held that reasonable suspicion is required to subject a computer seized at the border to forensic examination. […] In May of 2018, in U.S. v. Kolsuz, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that it is unconstitutional for US border officials to subject visitors’ devices to forensic searches without individualized suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.[22] Just five days later, in U.S. v. Touset, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals split with the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, ruling that the Fourth Amendment does not require suspicion for forensic searches of electronic devices at the border.[23] The existence of a circuit split is one of the factors that the Supreme Court of the United States considers when deciding whether to grant review of a case.[24]

            • Snot Flickerman
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              4 months ago

              I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and say they’re ignoring whatever court precedent actually exists at this point anyway.

              Also, a phrase I’ve heard a lot “you can beat the charge but you can’t beat the ride.” Meaning, like Luigi Mangione, you can argue in court about illegal seizures after it has already happened. I’m guessing most border patrol agents just plan on losing court cases like this, because they know, in the moment, they can get away with it.

              I mean they fucking tortured a white European green card holder recently.

      • Cosmic Cleric
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        4 months ago

        It’s “voluntary” in the sense that either you allow it or you don’t get into the country.

        Was that explicitly said to him? Did they tell him that if he refused the inspection that he would be denied entry?

        BTW, what you described is a mandatory inspection.

        This comment is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    • @pulsewidth@lemmy.world
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      14 months ago

      This might be normal opsec for a foreign agent, but absolutely ridiculous to expect average people or some French doctor to adhere to.

      The reality is this issue would never have happened just three months ago, and the reason it’s happening now is fascism.

    • Dr. Moose
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      3 months ago

      That’s not only US either, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, China - all can coerce you into unlocking your devices and detain you if you refuse which is fucking crazy.

      Never ever give them this right even if you trust the government as they’ll make a redundant copy and government data security is such a joke you’ll be 100% pwnd.

      Make sure your laptop is encrypted and disable face unlock on your phone. They can detain you for 24h in most places (6h in US) and will tell you to buy a return ticket. Do not take the risk even if you have nothing to hide.

      As a security expert - these laws are 100% authoritarian abuse. As if terrorists can’t host their encrypted terrorist files offsite and pull them from public wifi when they enter the country. It’s an absolutely joke.