Kicked out of the US over a twitter Joke.

Run_to_da_hills · 30-01-2012 02:27PM #1

If you are thinking of travelling to the states watch your mouth on line. This looks like a similar case to the Paul Chambers blow up RobinHood Airport incident two years ago but there is a worrying difference.

Two British tourists were barred from entering America after joking on Twitter that they were going to 'destroy America' and 'dig up Marilyn Monroe'. Leigh Van Bryan, 26, was handcuffed and kept under armed guard in a cell with Mexican drug dealers for 12 hours after landing in Los Angeles with pal Emily Bunting.

The Department of Homeland Security flagged him as a potential threat when he posted an excited tweet to his pals about his forthcoming trip to Hollywood which read: 'Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America'.

What is worse, someone being arrested and deported for an innocent twitter message or the fact that the American Secret Service monitors every electronic message you make in the world?

Looks like another Paul Chambers case only in this incident the message would have been detected by automated US intelligence search robots rather than a physical person accidentally coming across the message.

This type of stuff is a grave concern considering our current government is willing to sign away our civil liberties to US orchestrated pacts such as ATCA, SOPA and PIPA which will similarly trawl through monitor and chastise your personal on line life.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4095372/Twitter-news-US-bars-friends-over-Twitter-joke.html

30-01-2012 02:29PM

Do you sit around all day waiting for these kind of stories to pop up? It's all you seem to post about.

MagicMarker · 30-01-2012 02:30PM

It's the Sun, must be true.

Overheal · 30-01-2012 02:31PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Do you sit around all day waiting for these kind of stories to pop up? It's all you seem to post about.

He is riding his street cred for reporting on ACTA 2 years before anyone else. Cut him some slack.

My name is URL · 30-01-2012 02:32PM

What a miserable looking pair of eejits

Old Perry · 30-01-2012 02:34PM

I told Binladen not to set up that twitter account but no he just wouldn listen.

30-01-2012 02:35PM

on the one hand it's a bit stupid to post up something like that with their rep

on the other, that's all a bit scary

30-01-2012 02:37PM

It's not really that scary really. Had they said it in an email or a text message, or even a phone call, then I would be concerned. But twitter is a public medium, so it was foolish of him to post something like that.

TheZohanS · 30-01-2012 02:37PM

Everyone knows the US are very touchy about threats, what did they expect?

Sindri · 30-01-2012 02:37PM

Google and Facebook already store all your information, even if you change some Google keep it backed up on file any way, Facebook tracks the sites you visit even if you're logged out. Everything you do on-line can be found and these gob****es decided to publicly announce there intentions, what do you expect?

token101 · 30-01-2012 02:44PM

Same as the clowns who go to the check in desk and say 'Yeah, there's a bomb in me bag'. You know it's a joke, they know it's probably a joke, but you're a ****ing idiot. No sympathy. It wouldn't surprise me that they're collecting this kind of info. Your Tweets and Facebook posts are public information, you're making an announcement FFS.

Overheal · 30-01-2012 02:45PM

It's not a 4th amendment violation or anything either. It's a public site, the information can be viewed by anyone. If the CIA or NSA wants to run a server farm that trawls public twitter messages for threats, they can do that, just as much as google does the same thing to index the web.

Flipside is there are/were a few attempts to try and make it law for ISPs to have to store and record everything that a user does: every website they visit, etc. etc. and basically track the behavior of every user in the US from the back-end. That was shot down as a 4th amendment violation.

CardBordWindow · 30-01-2012 02:45PM

That's the last time I pay up front for a celebrity body! :mad:

Guy:Incognito · 30-01-2012 02:46PM

Overheal wrote: »

He is riding his street cred for reporting on ACTA 2 years before anyone else. Cut him some slack.

Even spam is right the (very) odd time.:)

I'm still waiting to be interned after the anti organised crime laws that were passed a couple of years back. I fully expected to be living in a prison camp by now. Who was I to know RTDH would be worng?

link_2007 · 30-01-2012 02:50PM

Sindri wrote: »

Facebook tracks the sites you visit even if you're logged out.

How do they do that? I'm not doubting you, just curious.

Overheal · 30-01-2012 02:51PM

link_2007 wrote: »

How do they do that? I'm not doubting you, just curious.

Tracking cookies.

davet82 · 30-01-2012 03:03PM

Overheal wrote: »

Tracking cookies.

:eek: chocolate chip? damn facebook ruining everything!

Doc Ruby · 30-01-2012 03:26PM

Overheal wrote: »

If the CIA or NSA wants to run a server farm that trawls public twitter messages for threats, they can do that, just as much as google does the same thing to index the web.

They do a lot more than that, businesses were advised by the EU to transmit all communications in an encrypted form due to concerns about interception by the Echelon program. Just basically assume every single email, message, phone call, facebook or boards post, anything sent over an electronic medium is wide open to security analysts.

ejmaztec · 30-01-2012 03:33PM

It looks like the Americans have stolen Germany's sense of humour.:(

Immaculate Pasta · 30-01-2012 03:37PM

token101 wrote: »

Same as the clowns who go to the check in desk and say 'Yeah, there's a bomb in me bag'. You know it's a joke, they know it's probably a joke, but you're a ****ing idiot. No sympathy. It wouldn't surprise me that they're collecting this kind of info. Your Tweets and Facebook posts are public information, you're making an announcement FFS.

This.

You have to be so careful what you put on the internet. So people think when they put something on facebook, twitter and think oh but it was just a joke etc. but sarcasm rarely translates over the internet and as soon as it's on the internet people will immediately form an opinion of you and like you said it's public knowledge. Once you've posted something that's it, everybody knows, even if you delete it someone could well have copied it. It's very difficult to get rid of your internet presence. It's amazing what a google search of your name can do to your reputation if you're not careful.

So many people lack this basic understanding that once you put something on the internet, it's very hard to get rid of. Kids need to be educated on this in schools otherwise it's going to be worrying times for this next generation :cool:

admiralofthefleet · 30-01-2012 03:40PM

one of them is from cork so how is he a british tourist?

RichieC · 30-01-2012 03:43PM

Stupid boys. Being english they should be long used to the all seeing eye of big brother.

antodeco · 30-01-2012 03:44PM

They look like a pair of dopes. The type who bitch about everyone and then say "we were only messing". Bullying by proxy

Stompbox · 30-01-2012 03:56PM

antodeco wrote: »

They look like a pair of dopes. The type who bitch about everyone and then say "we were only messing". Bullying by proxy

:rolleyes:

Yahew · 30-01-2012 03:57PM

Not much sympathy here. I would say that he was using the word "destroy" as in "have a good time with".

It is pretty scary that they are spending all that effort on twitter too. The American authorities are going for the easy option here, well easier. Massive monitoring of twitter in case the next 9/11'ers are orchestrating something in public, and probably one Farsi or Arabic speaker trawling though some random locked down radical islamic sites, without software, non-Roman scripts being to hard to search.

ejmaztec · 30-01-2012 04:02PM

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

one of them is from cork so how is he a british tourist?

On this occasion, it might be best to leave things alone, and let them keep him.

token101 · 30-01-2012 04:07PM

ejmaztec wrote: »

On this occasion, it might be best to leave things alone, and let them keep him.

Yeah true. Langers like him have no place in our secession plans.

biko · 30-01-2012 04:11PM

MagicMarker wrote: »

It's the Sun, must be true.

Also here http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/30/leigh-van-bryan-and-emily-bunting-banned-from-entering-us-after-twitter-joke-about-destroying-america_n_1241104.html

“I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet but they just told me ‘you’ve really f***ed up with that tweet, boy’.”

Niiice

working fool · 30-01-2012 04:17PM

You need to be careful
Saying that
" the firecracker is in the bigmac . The shoemaker will deliver it at 4pm "

Morlar · 30-01-2012 04:20PM

My name is URL wrote: »

What a miserable looking pair of eejits

That's probably just the jetlag.

mattjack · 30-01-2012 04:21PM

Keep typing and posting.... Uncle Sam is watching you all.....

Kicked out of the US over a twitter Joke.

Comments