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<div class="ecxstory-body"> <span class="ecxstory-date"> <span class="ecxdate">31 January 2012</span>
<span class="ecxtime-text">Last updated at </span><span class="time">12:51 GMT</span> </span>
<div id="ecxpage-bookmark-links-head" class="ecxshare-help"><br>
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<h1 class="ecxstory-header">Caution on Twitter urged as tourists
barred from US</h1>
<div class="caption ecxbody-narrow-width"> <span style="width:304px">Post-9/11 USA is highly cautious of any
perceived threat, Abta said</span> </div>
<div class="ecxstory-feature ecxrelated ecxnarrow"> <br>
</div>
<p class="ecxintroduction" id="ecxstory_continues_1">Holidaymakers have
been warned to watch their words after two friends were refused
entry to the US on security grounds after a tweet.</p>
Before his trip, Leigh Van Bryan wrote that he was going to
"destroy America".<BR>
He insisted he was referring to simply having a good time - but
was sent home.<BR>
Trade association Abta told the BBC that the case highlighted
that holidaymakers should never do anything to raise "concern or
suspicion in any way".<BR>
The US Department for Homeland Security picked up Mr Bryan's
messages ahead of his holiday in Los Angeles.<BR>
The 26-year-old bar manager wrote a message to a friend on the
micro-blogging service, saying: "Free this week, for quick
gossip/prep before I go and destroy America."<BR>
The Irish national <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4095372/Twitter-news-US-bars-friends-over-Twitter-joke.html" target="_blank">told
the Sun newspaper</a> that he and his friend Emily Bunting
were apprehended on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport
before being sent home.<BR>
"The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind
of terrorist," Mr Bryan said.<BR>
"I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet."<BR>
<span class="ecxcross-head">No joke</span>
Abta, which represents travel companies in the UK, said
holidaymakers need to learn to be ultra-cautious when it comes
to talking about forthcoming trips, particularly after 9/11.<BR>
<div class="ecxstory-feature ecxnarrow"> <a class="ecxhidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16810312#story_continues_2" target="_blank">Continue
reading the main story</a>
<h2 class="ecxquote">“<span>Start Quote</span></h2>
<blockquote>
<p class="ecxfirst-child">Airport security staff do not have a
sense of humour when it comes to potential risk”</p>
</blockquote>
<span class="ecxquote-credit">Abta</span> </div>
<p id="ecxstory_continues_2">"Posting statements in a public forum
which could be construed as threatening - in this case saying
they are going to "destroy" somewhere - will not be viewed
sympathetically by US authorities," it told the BBC.</p>
"In the past we have seen holidaymakers stopped at airport
security for 'joking' that they have a bomb in their bag,
thoroughly questioned and ending up missing their flights,
demonstrating that airport security staff do not have a sense of
humour when it comes to potential risk."<BR>
In another tweet, Mr Bryan made reference to comedy show Family
Guy saying that he would be in LA in three weeks, annoying
people "and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up".<BR>
Mr Bryan told the newspaper that he was questioned for five
hours about his Twitter messages.<BR>
<span class="ecxcross-head">'Tweeter account'</span>
After the interview, Homeland Security's reported: "Mr Bryan
confirmed that he had posted on his Tweeter website account that
he was coming to the United States to dig up the grave of
Marilyn Monroe. <BR>
"Also on his tweeter account Mr Bryan posted he was coming to
destroy America."<BR>
<div class="caption ecxbody-narrow-width"> <span style="width:304px">Paul Chambers was fined after posting a
message about Robin Hood Airport</span> </div>
The US Customs and Border Protection agency said in a statement
that it tried to maintain a balance between "securing our
borders while facilitating the high volume of legitimate trade
and travel that crosses our borders every day".<BR>
It added: "We strive to achieve that balance and show the world
that the United States is a welcoming nation."<BR>
Mr Bryan is not the only person to suffer from a misjudged
tweet. In January 2010, Paul Chambers tweeted that he would blow
snow-affected Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster "sky high!" if it
was not reopened in time for him to see his girlfriend.<BR>
He was fined £385 plus £2,600 in costs - a sum which actor
Stephen Fry offered to pay on Mr Chambers' behalf.<BR>
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