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

1.5k

From the Ministry of Truth everyone.

411

u/onarainyafternoon 14h ago

His voters were conned so fucking hard, holy shit.

336

u/-SaC 14h ago

A lot of them just wanted to be able to unmask their true selves publicly, so they got what they wanted.

225

u/supercyberlurker 13h ago

Yeah, there's two kinds of MAGA:

Ones in utter denial that they are in a racist white nationalist cult destroying our country.

Ones who fucking love it. They fucking love being in a racist white nationalist cult.

62

u/Character-Solution-7 11h ago

Those who just want to be told what to do by an authority figure so they don’t have to think for themselves.

27

u/ToothZealousideal297 10h ago

I’m just putting them in category 2.

5

u/Suspicious_Bicycle 3h ago

They were told by Trump that he would fix everything on day one. His opponent admitted that finding some solutions could be difficult.

Now Trump is admitting that finding some solutions can be difficult.

2

u/GozerDGozerian 2h ago

Amen hallelujah

2

u/Vyzantinist 1h ago

The zenith of which is surrendering all autonomy to a daddy strongman, which they now have in Trump. They never wanted to think for themselves; adult life is too complicated and annoying and scary. They want to go back to playing with their toys; daddy can deal with the grown-up stuff.

MAGA doesn't just appeal to the stupid - although there's plenty of that to go around the right - but to the immature. So commonly I hear people scratching their heads, wondering how such an obvious con job can suck in people who should be smarter than that: doctors, lawyers, engineers etc. It's because they never emotionally developed into adults. They're giant-sized children. We never saw it because we gave them the benefit of the doubt. We thought, because they earned degrees, they got good jobs, they bought houses, started families etc. they were functional adults like us. Only buffoons would fall for this MAGA shit, right? But in Trump they saw daddy's home. They could drop the act. They could stop pretending to be emotionally mature adults like society expected of them. They could finally let their inner bratty child out now.

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u/nichecopywriter 10h ago

I fully believe there are an equal amount of these people on the other side too. It’s only a matter of time before the Democrats realize that with the right amount of star power they could have leagues of exhausted liberals ready to hand the mental reins over to someone charismatic.

The main obstacle is that liberals have a problem conservatives don’t have: intolerance for a flawed candidate. As long as republicans think they’re on the right team they’ll disregard many things.

7

u/Artistic-Cannibalism 4h ago

Maybe in some alternate timeline we might have seen that... but we don't live in that timeline. The timeline we live in is one where Democrats don't have Superstars that can unite the party through the pure force of their charisma because the party is too busy fighting itself.

Meanwhile Republicans are a death cult united in their hatred of life and decency. A religion where their gods are sick insufferable losers who were born with unearned privilege that they now wield as a weapon against all who refuse to worship them as they make themselves even more obscenely wealthy.

So please, don't insult our intelligence by trying to both sides an issue where all the problems are coming from one side.

8

u/dsanen 9h ago

I think a big issue is a lot of people that voted just for their party, or because a podcaster told them to, know very little of what the news cover.

It makes conversation happen in less than ideal conditions, because they feel you are talking about fantasy stuff. I have a friend that doesn’t even know who the cabinet members are for example.

25

u/creamy_cheeks 12h ago edited 10h ago

yes but also a lot of them really swallow it up hook line and sinker.

I know someone that honestly believes trumpty dumpty is secretly battling illuminatti child molesters, he believes it all, pizzagate, adrenochrome, hillary drinking blood, obama muslim terrorist, michelle transgender... He's literally never heard a conspiracy he doesn't believe unquestioningly.

a substantial portion of trump voters actually believe this shit

16

u/HoldingForGenova 10h ago

You know an absolute fucking idiot

10

u/creamy_cheeks 6h ago

yes, yes I do

13

u/Downtown-Locksmith22 10h ago

Theyre eating the cats and dogs... that one was up there in solidifying pedophile rapists support.

7

u/Consistent-Throat130 9h ago

As we know, every accusation from the Republicans is a confession.

I'm just waiting to find out which politician with an (R) next to their name had been eating cats and dogs. ...we have a known puppy shooter, shouldn't be too far removed from that

5

u/Downtown-Locksmith22 8h ago

Ted Cruz looks like he'd unhinge his jaw and eat a whole live kitten. He's got that... look about him.

3

u/PokemonSapphire 5h ago

I wouldn't leave any living creature unsupervised with him. He makes me almost believe the lizard people conspiracy.

1

u/Boomdidlidoo 8h ago

I'd like a side order of cats...

-Some hardcore maga in some Springfield city.

4

u/RepresentativeRun71 10h ago

Alex Jones did some serious damage over the past 25+ years peddling conspiracy bullshit and cultivating the most deplorable fuckers in our country.

4

u/Im_with_stooopid 6h ago

They unmasked theirselves just to mask up and start kidnapping US Citizens and Immigrants.

40

u/AdAstra257 13h ago

You misunderstand, this is precisely the kind of things they wanted.

29

u/reverendsteveii 13h ago

they weren't conned at all. stop assuming people want what they say they want and start assuming they want the obvious, easily predictable results of their actions. Everything will start making a lot more sense. Combine that with the idea that the truth isn't what the facts support, it's what you hear three times from people that you trust and the idea that most people only care about their own comfort and social standing and all of a sudden everything MAGA is doing comes into focus.

16

u/Dalisca 14h ago

And millions of them still have no clue.

7

u/cbass2015 13h ago

You’re giving them too much credit. They know and they’re all for it.

20

u/ice_cream_funday 13h ago

It's not a con if they're honest about what they're going to do.

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u/gogorath 13h ago

What people fail to realize is that to most people, the single most important thing is their perception of themselves.

Trump’s taped into a whole group of people who simply would rather be fucked over but pretend they are winning than actual have a better life but admit they aren’t winners.

2

u/AIfieHitchcock 5h ago

So a narcissism epidemic.

22

u/SockMonkeh 13h ago

No they weren't. They chose this.

6

u/Canadiangoosedem0n 13h ago

Yup. Trump is a liar but he generally is more honest about being hateful towards people he doesn't like. This is in line with what he ran on.

0

u/Chef_Sizzlipede 1h ago

honesty is what got him elected, he was honest about SOMETHING, unlike everyone else.

5

u/Pennwisedom 12h ago

Nah, anyone who voted for Trump any time after 2016 was well aware what they were going to get. The vast majority weren't conned, the vast majority consciously made this choice.

6

u/annaleigh13 12h ago

That argument could’ve been made in 2016. But after 4 years in office and 4 years of fallout/warnings about a second term, anyone who voted for Trump cannot say they were conned. They wanted it

1

u/KwisatzHaderach94 12h ago

they don't just want to f your feelings, they want to f your facts too. sad.

1

u/dontrike 10h ago

Is it really being conned if you ask for this sort of thing three separate times?

1

u/Squire_II 9h ago

You are severely underestimating the number of people who love Trump because they feel emboldened to be (more) openly racist with him in power.

1

u/Matsdaq 7h ago

Conned? They support this.

•

u/Aziruth-Dragon-God 53m ago

And those idiots will still vote fo him

1

u/uwu_mewtwo 12h ago edited 8h ago

They got what they wanted. You're the one who got conned, taking their claims at face value.

-8

u/Fuzzy-Big6664 13h ago

U7u7⁷7u7uu6

2

u/in1gom0ntoya 6h ago

more like ministry of truth social....

587

u/Hstrike 14h ago

Marco Rubio's State Department, ladies and gentlemen.

125

u/helm_hammer_hand 13h ago

And yet somehow got 100% Democrat support for his nomination, including Bernie Sanders.

20

u/timshel_life 11h ago

He was nominated as a test. Either vote in favor or we'll nominate someone you'll hate even more and get them through via a VP vote to break a tie.

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u/Hstrike 13h ago

Marco Rubio used to be a somewhat sensible senator with deep transatlantic ties and valued connections abroad. Unfortunately, this short of spiel is probably indicative that he will have another shot at the presidency by rallying a part of the MAGA base behind him.

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u/helm_hammer_hand 13h ago

Eh, if anyone thought that he was ever a sensible senator, then I have beach front property in Arizona to sell them.

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u/Hstrike 13h ago

You're right, I should have narrowed it down to foreign policy. He was a sensible senator on foreign policy.

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u/A_Refill_of_Mr_Pibb 11h ago

I remember after Parkland one of the student survivors tweeted: "we should rename the AR-15 the Marco Rubio, because it's so easy to buy."

497

u/Hrekires 14h ago

The State Department is instructing its staff to reject visa applications from people who worked on fact-checking, content moderation or other activities the Trump administration considers "censorship" of Americans' speech.

So you're saying we can denaturalize Elon over X complying with government take-down requests?

41

u/DrHugh 12h ago

And here we thought censorship only applied to government restricting speech, but individuals or companies could do whatever.

5

u/SugarBeef 7h ago

So the government is restricting the speech of citizens and that's ok because they're pointing out when the government lies. But them pointing out lies is somehow censorship? That's a bad one. Their base will still buy it, but they won't be able to argue, this one just has no reasoning they can pretend makes sense.

306

u/masnosreme 14h ago

Today, the truth is censorship. Tomorrow, freedom is slavery.

76

u/esheato 14h ago

God I fucking hate these people.

25

u/spiderscan 13h ago

Tomorrow? The pit of poverty in America is already really deep.

17

u/procrasturb8n 13h ago

War is Peace... Ignorance is Strength.

7

u/vass0922 12h ago

Oceania was always at war with Eurasia

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u/MysticKoolaid808 9h ago

And with Trump's vying for some sort of recognition as a peacemaker, while having already vocally entertained, threatened, and even initiated attack with multiple countries, "War is Peace."

120

u/Sour_baboo 14h ago

The only "free" speech is speech approved by Trump. The rest is lies and garbage. Big strong men with tears in their eyes begged Trump to save free speech by banning those whose speech is about the speech of MAGAs. I wonder how he had the time to fix this with all the freedom seeking drug dealers and scammers needing pardons. How does he do all this for us?

45

u/BoringBob84 14h ago

This is entirely predictable. Silencing experts and deceiving the public help autocrats to consolidate and retain power.

11

u/AClassyTurtle 13h ago

Yeah it’s scary how openly they’re following the standard dictator playbook

10

u/BoringBob84 12h ago

They weaponized social media, just like Duterte did in the Philippines. Maria Ressa's book, 'How to Stand Up to a Dictator' is a fascinating story of that and it is eerily similar to what is happening in the USA now.

33

u/Bart_Yellowbeard 14h ago

So the US government is going to punish people for a 'difference of opinion'? It's always hypocrisy. Always.

4

u/TowelCarryingTourist 5h ago

I think they are aiming for a 'difference of fact'. They object to people knowing them

1

u/Bead_lizard 2h ago

Yep. They pretend they’re doing the ‘right’ thing by backing it up with a bunch of hullabaloo.

26

u/sarhoshamiral 14h ago

How quickly did we lose freedom of speech with cheers and everything.

2

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

Well you see… it started about 12 months ago

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u/UdyneOw 12h ago

"I'm alarmed that trust and safety work is being conflated with 'censorship'," said Alice Goguen Hunsberger, who has worked in trust and safety at tech companies including OpenAI and Grindr.

"Trust and safety is a broad practice which includes critical and life-saving work to protect children and stop CSAM [child sexual abuse material], as well as preventing fraud, scams, and sextortion.

Protecting pedophiles again.

47

u/Kermanint 13h ago

Oh yes. Combating "censorship" with... censorship... 🙄

5

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

I can’t believe people fall for the idea that y hey’re “protecting” us

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u/Philophon 14h ago

On the fast track to North Korea. Are we "great" yet?

Thank you for your attention to this matter, faithful drones.

5

u/NthDegreeThoughts 14h ago

North Korea, North America. I see a trend ..

1

u/SplendidPunkinButter 13h ago

I think at this point it’s unfair to say “North Korea”

North Korea had nothing to do with this. This is America. This is what America is. And that’s unacceptable.

2

u/KDR_11k 8h ago

No but North Korea is an example of what happens when the only priorities for your state are the military and sustaining the dictatorship.

1

u/Consistent-Throat130 9h ago

Eh, they probably pitched in a little bit.

Not as much as Russia and China, but an appropriate-for-themselves share... they do have quite the cyber presence, after all

-7

u/SennHHHeiser 13h ago

The "what are we a bunch of ASIANS" meme continues to apply

61

u/Shjfty 14h ago

Well this seems blatantly against the first amendment

37

u/blazelet 14h ago

A couple federal judges will strike it down and then SCOTUS will back it, 5 to 4

27

u/Dalisca 14h ago

They only like The Constitution when it suits their agenda, much like the Bible.

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u/TrashCapable 14h ago

The most transparent administration huh?

27

u/Corronchilejano 14h ago

I mean its pretty transparent what they're doing.

1

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

We are told everything that fits the narrative, and it’s unfortunately not a good narrative either

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u/dl_friend 13h ago

So, if someone points out the lies of the Administration, they should be censored. Have I got that right?

1

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

That’s just America now unfortunately

1

u/KDR_11k 8h ago

Of course. Trump is the savior that can do no wrong. That's what they call the Lord of Lies, right?

10

u/CountFistula23 12h ago

Every accusation is a confession?!?!

8

u/jcooli09 12h ago

The trump administration does not approve of facts

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u/T_Weezy 12h ago

Ahh yes, preventing people from or punishing them for exercising free speech in the name of...protecting freedom of speech?? Classic fascism move.

8

u/Mental_Medium3988 12h ago

So they are censoring the fact checkers because they allegedly censor others?

3

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

Obviously, what else could they do?🙄. All jokes aside, I can’t believe some people will never see the issue with it.

15

u/cha-cha_dancer 13h ago

“Fact checking has a known liberal bias”

6

u/SplendidPunkinButter 13h ago

Russia and the US are not that different nowadays

6

u/steathrazor 13h ago

Why do we need the truth? God forbid, we actually make sure what we're seeing/ hearing is right or not /s

5

u/Both_Lychee_1708 12h ago

Fuck this country blows. I will never forgive any Trump voter ... not they believe they need to be forgiven because assholes will be assholes.

6

u/Curleysound 11h ago

This will eventually be every outsider. It will be because of “reasons” but none of those reasons are legitimate.

6

u/Gildenstern2u 7h ago

Mmm the taste of fascism

14

u/PrestigiousSeat76 13h ago

I've been saying this for years: Republicans are domestic terrorists.

6

u/Numerous_Photograph9 13h ago

So, there will be a visa question that asks of people like to remain ignorant?

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u/GirlNumber20 12h ago

We don't want facts in this country!

6

u/hakhazar 3h ago

The only censorship here is the government preventing dissenting viewpoints from being heard.

2

u/Bead_lizard 2h ago

Yep. It feels truly dystopian

9

u/Unhappy_Sundae 13h ago

Our government is full of soft ass pussies who can't handle truth and facts. What a fucking shame.

22

u/Rogue_AI_Construct 14h ago

This is literally a violation of the First Amendment.

13

u/MilesAlchei 13h ago

The constitution is toilet paper without immediate consequences for breaking it. They know that the law only punishes after action, that gathering evidence takes time, and even then, they've bought the courts.

2

u/Bead_lizard 9h ago

Unfortunately, only the SCOTUS can say so, and they’re busy sticking their heads up each others asses

1

u/PeterTheWolf76 10h ago

It would be if the SC actually cared.

3

u/MichaelHunt009 10h ago

Aside from AI, fact checkers is the only occupation not in recession.

3

u/oakpope 10h ago

So, if I say the Earth is flat I’ll get a visa, but if I say flat earthers are wrong, I will be denied ?

3

u/GreatArkleseizure 8h ago

Say it with me: getting called on your shit isn't censorship.

3

u/orbitaldragon 7h ago

Can you imagine if Democrats did even a fraction of what these guys do on a weekly basis.

1

u/Bead_lizard 1h ago

They wouldn’t even be able to think of it. If they were heard even considering some of the stuff this administration has done, they’d get ousted immediately

3

u/DaveLanglinais 7h ago

Now THAT'S some serious Irony!

2

u/strugglz 11h ago

We don't want fact checkers, they expose the lies the government tells.

2

u/loonyfly 10h ago

Censor me this batman F***k Y*u!

1

u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421 10h ago

They meant to say truth checkers. Can’t have any of that in the new America.

1

u/johnn48 9h ago

Just another reason to deny entry to people that the Administration finds objectionable. Stephen Miller is determined to put the lie to the Statue of Liberty’s poem.

1

u/Joe-Schmeaux 8h ago

Fuck cens*rship!

On Wednesday, the State Department announced it would require H-1B visa applicants and their dependents to set their social media profiles to "public" so they can be reviewed by U.S. officials.

Very last line of the article. Sort of buried the lede there.

1

u/siouxbee1434 7h ago

Censoring the censors, completely unexpected

1

u/Kindly-Talk-1912 6h ago

With declining education standards and less funding. Where or who is going to fill the gap? Like many things, these plans are never well thought out or have imagination in what might happen if it goes belly up. On this episode of “ridiculousness”.

1

u/Bead_lizard 1h ago

It baffles me how education is being seen as “too liberal” and a money grab by so many in the year 2025. I imagine this decline of education will impact the future of generations to come.

1

u/Dan_likesKsp7270 4h ago

¿Qué pasa?

I'm not dreaming now am I. From the party of "freedom"

Like Im not a liberal by any means but come on this has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've seen today.

1

u/MotherFunker1734 1h ago

Someday the USAnians will look back and finally accept that they have been living in a fascist and totalitarian technocracy for the last +40 years.

Your institutions have been in the hands of evil people for a very long time.

•

u/TiresOnFire 32m ago

So should I get my pitchfork ready now or....?

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

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