Fireworks, Flags, and Facebook Logins
Every year, the United States throws one hell of a party. On the Fourth of July, grills sizzle, boats parade, and fireworks burst in the name of liberty. We wrap ourselves in red, white, and blue—cheering not just for our independence, but for the ideals that supposedly make this country different: freedom of speech, privacy, the right to dissent.
And then comes July 5th.
It’s on this sobering morning after that the contradictions start to creep in. The hangover of patriotic euphoria is interrupted by the steady hum of government overreach. Take, for example, the U.S. immigration policy that asks international students, tourists, and visa applicants to hand over their social media handles. That’s right—if you’re hoping to visit the land of the free, you'd better be ready to give the Department of Homeland Security a peek into your DMs.
The Irony is Blinding
We tell the world that we are a beacon of liberty. We encourage exchange students to come and "learn freedom." But before they can even step on a campus, we demand to see their Instagram accounts. We want to know who they follow, what memes they post, whether their uncle’s anti-government rants got a like. We celebrate freedom of expression and then quietly penalize people for expressing themselves.
From PetaPixel... "In a significant policy shift, the U.S. Department of State has updated its requirements for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas, stating that applicants must now set their social media accounts to public visibility, effective immediately." This isn't just hypocritical—it’s a betrayal of the very values we lit fireworks to celebrate less than 24 hours ago.
The Illusion of Security
Supporters of these surveillance tactics claim it’s about keeping the country safe. But the truth is, scanning someone’s Twitter account rarely prevents a threat. What it does do is send a message: your freedom is conditional, your privacy optional, your voice surveilled. And if you’re not a citizen? That First Amendment glow doesn't reach you.
A Warning to All
Let’s not pretend this is just a “foreigner problem.” Normalizing social media scrutiny for visitors opens the door to doing it for everyone. Once surveillance becomes standard practice, it rarely stays confined to borders. The same tools used to judge a student from Brazil today could be used to monitor a protester in Boston tomorrow.
The Real Test of Patriotism
If we care about what the Fourth of July means—if we actually believe in the principles it stands for—then we should be outraged by this kind of political overreach. Freedom isn’t something you ration out based on visa status. You either believe in it, or you don’t.
So as we clean up beer cans and deflated flags today, let’s also clean up our policy contradictions. It’s time to choose: Are we the land of the free, or the land of "let me see your TikTok before you enter"?
A Few Links
Why the US Requires Visa Applicants to Disclose All Social Media Accounts