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The US can be credited with starting the Orwellian idea of forcing all “visa-free” visitors to file an ETA¹. It’s not just a money grab for us$ 20. It’s a snooping mechanism to link people to social media accounts, and then perform a background check on travelers to look for any speech that’s critical of the US.

Someone from Lebanon got a scholarship for Harvard. Then he was blocked at the border by border control. The cause: a friend linked to him on social media said something critical of the US. Even though the aspiring student did not himself criticise the US, being associated with someone who did was sufficient to block his entry. (He eventually made it back after some hassle and back and forth on flights).

Then the UK decided decided to impose travel authorisations as well, thus doing a money grab of £16. Initially it seemed to just be a retaliation against the US. But recently the UK decided to target Europeans.

So now the EU has decided to follow suit. In 2027, the loss of visa-free travel hits Europe. Even those who merely have a connecting flight in Europe will have to pay €20 and pass the background check. You need not even leave the airport to be subjected to this.

Of course it’s bullshit to continue calling this “visa-free travel”. They hope a technical semantical spin will fool people into accepting unfunded background checks coupled with surcharges as still “visa-free”.

¹ Electronic Travel Authorisation

Human rights

Do we still have privacy and free speech, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 and 19, which states (respectively):

  1. “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”…

  1. “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

?

Yes, those rights are protected -- but only if you stay in your homeland. Only if you do not expect to simultaneously exercise your Article 13 rights, which states:

“1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

What other UDHR-signatory countries have joined this ETA shit-show?

Is this also a loss of a right to be analog?

Cross-posting to !right_to_unplug@sopuli.xyz because:

  1. the “E” in ETA is electronic, thus implying that there is no offline mechanism for unplugged people and unbanked people (correct me if I am wrong)
  2. those who declare not having a social media account are distrusted, presumed nefarious, and potentially denied entry (e.g. entering the US with a new/clean phone has triggered suspicion and ultimately entry refusals)

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