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State Department to deny visas to fact checkers and others, citing 'censorship'

249 points by seattle_spring

by ianks

5 subcomments

The most ironic thing to me is the amount of coddling these self-purported “strong men” need. The idea that someone wouldn’t blindly accept what they say is enough to throw their egos into self-protection mode.
Sad

by outime

5 subcomments

I'm not commenting on US fact checkers but the concept made its way to my country of origin some time ago. As I suspected, it turned out to be completely biased, often ignoring or softening the controversial topics that affect their side. It's the same old journalism trick where they claim to be neutral and dedicated to the truth but in reality they all have their own agendas, which seems unavoidable (nowadays or since forever?). The main issue is people believing that their favorite fact checker is the most neutral and thus using their content as absolute truths.
Glad to see that the concept is now completely unpopular in my country and we're back to the usual terrible journalism where there's no controversy in stating that.

by chmod775

3 subcomments

Mildly amusing if true, but I can't help but notice that some things the article mentions, like "fact-checking", are never in fact a direct quote from the supposed memo.
Is it so hard to reproduce the entire damn thing so readers can form their own opinion of what it says?
How are we supposed to fact-check this!

by fudged71

3 subcomments

That's insane.
I started Ask Me Anything on reddit, does being a moderator in that capacity mean I limited free speech of Americans?

by karlkloss

3 subcomments

There's nothing more dangerous to dictatorships than the truth, so it's only logical.

by tim333

0 subcomment

It's all a bit Orwellian really
Ignorance is strength, facts are censorship.

0 subcomment

by red_Seashell_32

0 subcomment

What happened to Free Speech they are trying so hard to promote?

by nephihaha

0 subcomment

"Face checker" is such an Orwellian term, and right enough, in many cases, they are pushing subjective interpretations and their own biases for someone, rather than solid facts.

by mullingitover

2 subcomments

Extremely on brand activity for a group of fraudsters who managed to lie their way into power via a firehose of misinformation.

by ChrisArchitect

1 subcomments

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-orders... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46151466)

by SilverElfin

4 subcomments

They’re also forcing visa applicants to share their social media publicly, like the authoritarian America is supposed to be better than:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/a...

by refurb

2 subcomments

As far as I can tell from the Reuter’s article, the memo reads “anyone involved in censorship of free speech”.
To me that seems like a good thing?
But the very carefully placed quotes around censorship in the article makes it seem like it would be unfairly painting activities like fact checking as censorship?
Is it too much to ask for the exact wording of what the memo says?

0 subcomment

by ktallett

0 subcomment

The land of the free and the home of the brave. Of course free, as long as you want to shoot school children, not if you want to openly express yourself. Brave as long as it's a defenceless third world country, terrified, if it is someone who is transgender or intersex or free thinking or compassionate or not Trump supporting or not Israel supporting..... And so on.

by frogperson

0 subcomment

Tgis is straight up fascism. The united states is a facist country. I'm disgusted at how It turned so easily.

by typpilol

3 subcomments

Is fact checker an actual job?

0 subcomment

by aprilthird2021

0 subcomment

Never thought dystopian novels would be so on the nose. I always thought they were being extra for the sake of art...

by watwut

1 subcomments

I mean, that was free speech advocates and centrist (read pro-right but pretend not to) position position for years.
Typical free speech advocate was considering criticism, fact checking and mockery of right to be attack on free speech for years now. Even in HN, you frequently seen the definition of free speech as "dont mind nazi speech and is actively helping nazi when they are in trouble". It never applied to nazi opposition.

by robomartin

1 subcomments

This entire thread is emblematic of the type of willful ignorance that seems to permeate certain HN discussions going back quite a few years. A full display of ignorant outrage for all to see.
First, this dates back to MAY of this year. Nothing new.
Second, it is obvious that nobody took the time to research, read the policy and understand it. Most comments are nonsense based on a complete lack of context.
Finally,
The restrictions apply to foreign nationals who are involved in:
- Issuing or threatening legal action, such as arrest warrants, against US citizens or residents for social media posts made while they are physically present on US soil.
So, any foreign official or person who threatens to, for example, arrest a US citizen based on what you post online WHILE YOU ARE IN THE US will be denied a visa.
What's your objection to this?
- Demanding that US tech platforms adopt content moderation policies or engage in censorship that extends beyond the foreign government's jurisdiction and affects protected speech in the US.
Someone not from the US who tries to censor you in the US and beyond the limits of their own national jurisdiction will be denied a visa. Or, government officials in Peru demanding that HN prevent you from posting your drivel while in the US (outside their government's jurisdiction) will be denied a visa.
What's your objection to this one?
- Directing or participating in content moderation initiatives or "fact-checking" that the US administration considers a form of censorship of Americans' speech.
Anyone that, from foreign soil, attempts to limit your right to free speech in the US while hiding under the "fact checking" or "content moderation" excuse will be denied a visa. Remember that your constitutional right of free speech in the US does not come with a fact-checking or content moderation limitation. As this thread easily demonstrates, you can post absolutely nonsense, lies and distortions and you would be protected. Fact-checking isn't a magical tool that allows someone to bypass constitutional rights to silence someone else.
What's your problem with this?
Of course, there are nuanced and not so nuanced elements to what constitutes free speech, where and under what circumstances. The key here is that outsiders don't get to mess with it or try to arrest you for this right you have in the US. If they do try, it's OK, they just can't get a visa to come here. Small price to pay.
So, yeah, nothing to see here. This is actually good. It means someone who, from, for example, Poland, acts to affect your free speech rights in the US or have you arrested while you visit Europe for something you posted online while in the US will not be allowed to come into the US.
Stop being lazy and ignorant. Take the time to research, read and understand before forming ideas and, worse, opening your mouth.

by nis0s

0 subcomment

This move makes sense in the context of content moderation on social media forums. There are numerous forums where mods shape and influence culture and discourse, and often that discourse is geopolitical in nature. I don’t think HN necessarily counts as a forum where there’s censorship based along geopolitics.

by Beijinger

1 subcomments

[The message here is very clear: the people who make online communities safe are not welcome in the United States. Trust and safety is a very wide field, which encompasses the policies, processes, and technologies online platforms use to protect users from harm, ensure a secure environment, and maintain user trust. Compliance ensures that safety rules are adhered to. None of these activities constitute censorship.]
I welcome this rule. In fact, I could imagine many more. I don't want people here that don't share our values.

by efitz

7 subcomments

This makes me happy.
What would make me even more happy is if we linked our foreign policy, especially our trade and aid policies, to align with our Constitution.
Other governments can do what they want, but we should prefer to interact with governments that share our values, and we should not reward or prefer governments that don’t.