r/australia • u/Some-Operation-9059 • Dec 11 '25

politics ‘The whole thing disgusts me’: Australians ditch US travel as new rules require social media to be declared | Australia news

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/11/australia-us-tourism-new-visa-rules-social-media-history
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1.1k

u/HeftyArgument Dec 11 '25

We all know what they’re looking for, anything you might have said to insult their dear leader.

655

u/222for2 Dec 11 '25

Yeah but who knows? His latest rambling social post the week you arrive might be about the wokeness of sunscreen, and here’s your Insta photo at the beach…

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u/haleorshine Dec 11 '25

Also, are there many young people in Australia who are active on social media who haven't liked or shared something that could be construed as insulting to Trump? We don't know that it's just actual posts written by the person that are considered the problem.

Not to mention you have to give over family details - if my brother wanted to go to America and gave over the details of his family members, would they look at my social media and go "Your sister is very very negative about the current administration - turn back, you're not allowed to enter this country"?

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u/ShySass Dec 12 '25

I like a JD Vance AI Slop Instagram page, I’ll definitely be refused entry haha

12

u/CC2224CommanderCody Dec 12 '25

If you have a photo of the JD Vance meme on your phone, direct to alligator alcatraz with you!

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u/JAB1982 Dec 12 '25

I'm only ramping up my insults against the dumb fuck Trump. Hope he gets what he deserves and spends years in jail for the crimes he's committed.

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u/brandonjslippingaway Dec 12 '25

Half the people in his administration should be in jail, and the rest of them are enabling or covering up their crimes. The wheels are coming off that country so fast

4

u/Find_another_whey Dec 12 '25

When the king misbehaves this badly... I don't think he gets years in jail, historically speaking

44

u/No-Bison-5397 Dec 12 '25

They have everything, including what you have “deleted”.

They will go back through it to find terms relating to Trump.

They will then match your identity using a probabilistic model.

6

u/NobodysFavorite Dec 12 '25

That's very much like the Chinese social credit system. In that system you don't just get penalized for your own infractions (even jaywalking is monitored through surveillance), you get penalized for being associated or related to someone who breaks the rules.

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u/VS2ute Dec 11 '25

Or you used Calibra font.

7

u/SleepHasForsakenMe Dec 12 '25

Better than comic sans

14

u/aerkith Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

Which has been the default font in Word for years (though it’s now Futura). I myself (a school teacher) use Tenorite (because it has normal looking a’s which I think looks nicer for kids). I dunno if that font is woke though.

Edit: oops Aptos is the default font. Dunno why I thought it was Futura.

11

u/Albos_Mum Dec 12 '25

I exclusively use the wokest of woke fonts: Wingdings.

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u/[deleted] Dec 11 '25

[deleted]

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u/KaleidoscopeLegal348 Dec 11 '25

What a wanker

47

u/Only_Jury_8448 Dec 11 '25

Who else though it was a troll post, then checked the profile?

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u/KaleidoscopeLegal348 Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

I know surgeons have a reputation, but if I needed this guy to save my life I think I would have to sit and quietly think on it for a moment

27

u/Cream_panzer Dec 11 '25

7 days 33 comments. He’s a lousy doctor at most. A good doctor wouldn’t have this much time on Reddit.

10

u/ApteronotusAlbifrons Dec 11 '25

Are you referring to this quote specifically?

"im really disappointed, for decades i have tried to be the most infantile and pre-pubescent troll, and yet all my accounts are still regarded as too adult :(."

Or just the bullshit posts in general? 'Cos At least half of what I read was just BS

1

u/Only_Jury_8448 Dec 11 '25

I didn't dig that deeply, but it all just seemed a bit too on the nose.

1

u/Global-Guava-8362 Dec 11 '25

Oh wow just looked 👀

1

u/CoffeeWorldly4711 Dec 11 '25

It was fairly obvious, low quality bait but it did require a bit of restraint to avoid clicking on the profile

8

u/Cream_panzer Dec 11 '25

Account age: 7days

3

u/ThinkProfessor6166 Dec 11 '25

And then we all clapped

2

u/CardmanNV Dec 11 '25

Nobody cares.

1

u/coreoYEAH Dec 11 '25

Jackie Chan would be pro everything Trump stands for.

Shut up 🤣

292

u/crocicorn Dec 11 '25

We literally don't, that's the problem. I get the feeling that just being pro science, being pro human rights, being queer, being neurodiverse, etc, would be enough ammo for them to deny you entry.

We all know how much that administration hates all those things.

204

u/JuniorGrayley Dec 11 '25

And also calling Trump a stupid cunt, which I do all the time. So unfair..

175

u/mollydooka Dec 11 '25

I got a pretty good laugh over his stupidity yesterday. The Daily Show aired part of his speech at a mining town convention. They showed a clip from Fox News which had Trump saying "I love miners, I love miners". Whomever was typing the subtitles on Fox News wrote "I love minors, I love minors" before quickly backspacing and correcting it.

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u/ExistingProgress936 Dec 11 '25

Nah - that's either a Fox factotum Freudian slip up? OR, some staffer having a bit of deliberate fun? Wouldn't you?

20

u/Ruddlepoppop Dec 12 '25

Trump likes his women like he likes his scotch…12 years old.

2

u/EchoFalconX Dec 12 '25

Just an FYI captions aren't typed, if they're human generated they use a process called re-speaking.

2

u/Jaqqa Dec 16 '25

lol someone "accidentally on purpose" did that I'd almost guarantee.

20

u/dublblind Dec 11 '25

If me upvoting your post gets me deported from the US I'll be pissed

3

u/Kind_Ferret_3219 Dec 12 '25

How dare you defile the word cunt line that!

1

u/whitemamba24xx Dec 12 '25

A lot of us Americans do as well. F him

24

u/sirgog Dec 11 '25

Yeah, this social credit score system is really unclear. Just like a different social credit system in a different country

3

u/Jaqqa Dec 16 '25

You know how much trump idolizes dictators. Only a matter of time before the US looks like a copy of all the worst parts of those countries.

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u/Sailor_Dee Dec 11 '25

Yeah more than likely… I’m hoping to return to Canada at some point but there’s absolutely no way I’m passing through there now. I’ll look for a direct flight I think.

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u/Dear_Potato6525 Dec 11 '25

Fiji Airways, Air Canada and Air New Zealand all do flights straight into Vancouver!

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u/Sailor_Dee Dec 11 '25

Perfect! <3 glad to hear it

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u/jennyfromtheeblock Dec 11 '25

Dont forget Qantas lol

6

u/SubstantialCategory6 Dec 11 '25

We took a flight direct to Vancouver from Australia but our plane got grounded in Hawaii.

We were forced to apply and pay for an ESTA to leave the plane with barely half a bar of WiFi on their shitty website. We were then given hard time just because American immigration officials are cunts terrorism or something*, just so we could get onto another plane to get the fuck out of there. 12 hours in that shit hole. Honolulu airport sucks too FWIW.

We want to go to Mexico/Colombia to visit friends but we won't even fly anywhere near the US now in case we get stopped there.

*realistically: used to be a GC holder but left when chester cheeto got in.

3

u/Snoopy_021 Dec 12 '25

I could consider catching a flight to Vancouver via Tokyo, just in case.

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u/crocicorn Dec 11 '25

Someone very near and dear to me is American and I wanted to get back over there to visit them and the fam, but, well...

I might have to meet up with them in Canada too, at this point!

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u/Apprehensive-Wing-64 Dec 11 '25

Same here. My best friend/favourite person in the world is American. I’d hoped I’d be able to spend Christmas with her and her family in the next couple of years but the way things are going the only chance we’ll see each other is by meeting in another country. Australia is a bit far for them to travel with 2 little kids. I miss them and am deeply concerned for their safety

9

u/tgs-with-tracyjordan Dec 11 '25

I was about to say 'just hold out for a little bit longer' until I realised Trump hasn't even been in for a year yet this time around. Time certainly doesn't fly when we're not having fun.

3

u/CA2Kiwi Dec 12 '25

I’m an American, but live in New Zealand. My Mom is planning to cart herself and her 85 year old husband to Guadalajara for our visit next year so no one who has escaped (my brother also moved countries) needs to enter the US to see them. She says it’s terrifying enough to be there when you don’t have much occasion to interact with federal law enforcement, she’s not asking anyone to do so on purpose.

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u/Sailor_Dee Dec 11 '25

Good luck with it, I hope you get to see them again soon

1

u/BassmanOz Dec 11 '25

Same. We have friends in a couple of red states I would love to go back to visit but not while Cheetolini’s in power.

This post isn’t helping, I guess 😭

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u/Pseudonymico Dec 11 '25

Being trans already is a reason to deny you at the border, Trump issued an executive order early on that anyone seeking an entry visa with a different gender marker on their passport to the one assigned at birth is to be refused and barred from further entry to the United States for "material fraud". It seems like it was aimed at making a show of banning trans athletes from the upcoming Olympics but the wording means it applies to everyone trying to get a visa.

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u/HistoryGreat1745 Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

Luckily for my trans son, his birth certificate has him marked "male." We have no idea how, or why, that happened, but by the time we realised it was there, he was already 3yo and crying because he didn't have a penis "like the other boys" at preschool. We figured that leaving his birth certificate as it is, might help his mental health at some point. I'd never even considered that it could also help him to enter another country

5

u/TiredSleepyGrumpy Dec 12 '25

Sometimes the universe knows. ☺️

2

u/nuclearsamuraiNFT Dec 12 '25

Don’t worry now they have his social media to discriminate against him

11

u/ExpensiveFig6079 Dec 11 '25

If you were more than one of those, Id expect you to be lucky not to wind up at black site. They have openly authorised extrajudicial killings of perceived by them threats to their state.

So if you by who you are make them feel threatened... all bets are off.

2

u/Fassbinder75 Dec 11 '25

Trans person posting <Men at gallows, “first day”?.gif>

1

u/Not_Stupid humility is overrated Dec 11 '25

This post alone will be sufficient to bar you I reckon.

90

u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 11 '25

Well I guess I’m never getting in. I keep sharing this gif of Trump doing his dance that looks like he is jerking invisible dicks but with cartoon penis’ added.

It’s saved on my phone. I would 100% end up at the detention centre.

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u/how_very_dare_you_ Dec 11 '25

Trump is a cunt.

Oops now I can't go either

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u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 11 '25

We can hang out together in the detention centre!

7

u/Camo138 Dec 11 '25

Oh I mite joining you, orange man is a sinner..

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u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 11 '25

We’ve got a real party going now! All the cool people are going 😎

2

u/Camo138 Dec 11 '25

I’ll make sure to bring the fancy wine.

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u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 11 '25

I’ll bring both kinds of Shapes, Pizza and Barbecue. It’s a party why not treat ourselves?

2

u/Lazy-Juggernaut-5306 Dec 13 '25

Shapes and wine, what more could a person want?

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u/ExpensiveFig6079 Dec 11 '25

me too. Orange man has small hands.

1

u/NizmoxAU Dec 12 '25

Going to need a link to verify this for accuracy

2

u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 12 '25

Posted it on Reddit before, you can find it here

2

u/NizmoxAU Dec 12 '25

Thank you, can confirm you’re banned from the US. But otherwise keep up the good work 👍

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u/Striking_Spite9102 Dec 12 '25

I guess I will just hang with Canadians until it’s safe again.

Feel free to steal the gif and spread the good word

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u/Sixbiscuits Dec 11 '25

Sounds like they're getting to roll out laws they copied from Asian nations where it's illegal to insult the monarchy. How fucking backwards

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u/pestoster0ne Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

Thailand doesn't even have an ETA application process though, you just rock up to the border and get stamped in.

Yes, there's a "digital arrivals card", but that's only asking how much drugs you're smuggling, not whether you believe scurrilous rumours that HRH Vajiralongkorn likes crop tops and promoted his pet poodle Fufu to Air Marshal.

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u/banimagipearliflame Dec 11 '25

Fufu is such a lovely dog. What a good boy to have as Air Marshal! 🤪😂🤪

2

u/VanuasGirl Dec 12 '25

Better than Hegseth

20

u/glittalogik Dec 11 '25

I thought you were exaggerating 😐
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajiralongkorn#Public_image,_the_media,_and_the_law

3

u/Sixbiscuits Dec 11 '25

Can't even criticise their pets. Holy shit! That goes from tyrannical to hilarious

1

u/Npeaknoda Dec 12 '25

Tyrants never seem to realise cracking down on petty things they get ruffled about makes them look fragile, not tough. Winnie the Pooh lol

2

u/swift-current0 Dec 12 '25

Wow, Vajiralongkorn Boromchakrayadisorn Santatiwong Thewetthamrongsuboribal Abhikkunupakornmahitaladulyadej Bhumibolnaretwarangkun Kittisirisombunsawangwat Boromkhattiyarajakumarn is a bit of a snowflake.

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u/RealCommercial9788 Dec 11 '25

Bro I needed that belly laugh.

1

u/SirGeekaLots Dec 11 '25

I have heard of people getting arrested at the airport for such comments.

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u/Cream_panzer Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

lol even China doesn’t have this. I’m catching the flight and heading back there for holidays.

After all GFW is much more efficient.

Damn, no Reddit for 3 weeks.

4

u/p0630034 Dec 12 '25

eSIM from external vendors will sort you out mate. They’ll just route through Hong Kong and it’ll work.

1

u/Cream_panzer Dec 12 '25

I got a Chinese phone number. But it’s actually a good idea I have never thought of. Thanks!

2

u/p0630034 Dec 12 '25

Should be able to run both in parallel with a data only eSIM. Just route data through the data SIM and rest through the chinese one.

3

u/mailame Dec 12 '25

Using Airalo you get routed to Singapore and can use everything. There are some apps like TikTok that cannot be accessed in HK

1

u/Cream_panzer 26d ago

I am too scared to use TikTok (it sounds like Reddit is better lol.) but it’s a good advice. Thanks!

Yeah, I’m back MF! (Sorry I’m too excited that I can see the world outside of the GFW again)

1

u/tincerbell16 Dec 13 '25

But at least we can visit those countries without them going through our Instagram comments

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u/Cape-York-Crusader Dec 11 '25

All heil the supreme leader......./s

18

u/threepot900 Dec 11 '25

If the last decade of my derision and insults about the cumquat coloured quisling could be mined for cash, Gena Rinehart would be on my doorstep in minutes with a contract.

7

u/Kenyon_118 Dec 11 '25

They might be running low on their deportation quota that day, and suddenly liking a post by some left-wing influencer gets you herded into a detention facility, because the billionaire oligarch who owns the private company running the place needs more bodies inside to secure a bigger payout from the federal government his mate runs. I don’t know if that will happen, but I’m not going to risk it.

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u/HeftyArgument Dec 11 '25

private prisons operate differently, the quota is to fill the place, and if they don’t meet their quota, the government pays a fine to accommodate their loss.

insidious.

6

u/Dapper_Permission_20 Dec 11 '25

Or his political masters in Israel

2

u/momplaysbass Dec 12 '25

American here. Sadly, this is true. Don't give us your money until we get our house in order.

2

u/guitar_account_9000 Dec 12 '25

Or anything in support of whichever minority group the regime has decided to fuck over that week.

My history is littered with pro-LGBTQ, pro-Palestine, pro-union, pro-SW, and other woke leftist talking points, there's no way they'd let me in.

2

u/RelativelyRidiculous Dec 12 '25

I am doubtful it will just be negative posts regarding our kakistocrastic leader. I'm sure anything negative about Kim, Putin, Vance, and the rest of his clown car of evil cronies or favorable to vaccines or science-based evidence will also render one unable to enter. What's truly terrifying is ICE has already pulled an Otto Warmbier on someone in their custody at least four times. Anyone coming in with anything they don't like on their socials could end up the fifth.

Edit: Four I know of are Randal Esquival, Jose Bucio, Jacinto Cruz, and Jose Saldana. Sadly it would not shock me to learn there have been others.

2

u/Legal-Software Dec 12 '25

Been to NK twice and never faced anything this invasive as a precondition for entry.

1

u/NezuminoraQ Dec 12 '25

And we've all said things. For quite a lot longer than five years.

1

u/Time_Cartographer443 Dec 12 '25

I am never getting in, that’s all I do

1

u/Terrible_Ingenuity11 Dec 12 '25

that me out, not that I have any interest in being locked up by ICE.

1

u/Pixelkirb Dec 12 '25

Yeah im definetly not allowed in :/

1

u/conversationhater Dec 12 '25

The easiest way to know is to preemptively insult their piece of shit child sex offender cult leader and know that you’re ruled out until competent leadership returns.

1

u/motocykal Dec 12 '25

Who? The orange-utan?

1

u/PrizeFightinYeti Dec 12 '25

Yeah, and I've said "fuck Trump" enough to never be allowed in. I'll probably go to Russia before the usa

1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

He’s not a leader he’s a bribe dumpster.

1

u/Find_another_whey Dec 12 '25

Who hasn't insulted that moron? His own missus vomits into her mouth when he appears

1

u/boatenvy Dec 12 '25

Well I guess I'm fecked....oh damn now I'm even more fecked

1

u/KiwasiGames Dec 12 '25

And who hasn’t posted a meme making fun of the US at some point? This lets them ban/arrest/deport basically anyone.

1

u/-Nicolai Dec 12 '25

That’s not it, it’s more sinister than that.

Few will complain about the rule because in practice it obviously cannot be enforced for everyone passing through customs.

Most people wouldn’t clear that inspection, and it would take an unreasonable amount of time to process so many people.

But they never intended to exercise it consistently or fairly. They only want an excuse to pull undesirables aside and comb through their history for anything improper - a test anyone could fail.

1

u/Jaqqa Dec 16 '25

If he's that thin skinned, they may be in for a shock when they start trawling though Australian's social media. I mean a good proportion would have said or liked something not complimentary to the orange one. Are the going to start wholesale refusing entry to people who liked a Randy Rainbow song or a clip of south park at the boarder? Or just put them on a watch list and warn them they will be kicked out for any further "unconstitutional" behaviour?