US to screen social media of foreign students for anti-American content
By AFP
June 19, 2025
The State Department will require student visa applicants to make public their social media profiles to be vetted for anti-American views - Copyright AFP/File -
Foreigners seeking to study in the United States will be required to make public their social media profiles to allow screening for anti-American content under new State Department guidelines released Wednesday.
The State Department had temporarily paused issuing visas for foreign students at the end of May while it came up with the new social media guidance and it will now resume taking appointments.
“The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country,” a senior State Department official said.
US consular officers will conduct a conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants,” the official said.
To facilitate the screening, student visa applicants will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to “public,” the official said.
In an executive order on his first day as president, Donald Trump called for increased vetting of persons entering the United States to ensure they “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
Student visas are one of a series of battles waged over higher education by the Trump administration, which has rescinded thousands of visas and sought to ban Harvard University from accepting international students.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked visas in large part of students who led demonstrations critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, as he uses an obscure law that allows the removal of people deemed to go against US foreign policy interests.
In April, the Department of Homeland Security said the social media of foreign student applicants would be examined for “antisemitic activity” that could result in visa denial.
The US government has been vetting the social media of persons seeking to immigrate to the United States or obtain a green card for more than a decade.
By AFP
June 19, 2025
The State Department will require student visa applicants to make public their social media profiles to be vetted for anti-American views - Copyright AFP/File -
Foreigners seeking to study in the United States will be required to make public their social media profiles to allow screening for anti-American content under new State Department guidelines released Wednesday.
The State Department had temporarily paused issuing visas for foreign students at the end of May while it came up with the new social media guidance and it will now resume taking appointments.
“The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country,” a senior State Department official said.
US consular officers will conduct a conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants,” the official said.
To facilitate the screening, student visa applicants will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to “public,” the official said.
In an executive order on his first day as president, Donald Trump called for increased vetting of persons entering the United States to ensure they “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
Student visas are one of a series of battles waged over higher education by the Trump administration, which has rescinded thousands of visas and sought to ban Harvard University from accepting international students.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked visas in large part of students who led demonstrations critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, as he uses an obscure law that allows the removal of people deemed to go against US foreign policy interests.
In April, the Department of Homeland Security said the social media of foreign student applicants would be examined for “antisemitic activity” that could result in visa denial.
The US government has been vetting the social media of persons seeking to immigrate to the United States or obtain a green card for more than a decade.
By Paul Wallis
June 16, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL
An American Airlines plane flies past a cellular tower disguised as a palm tree as it lands at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California in January 2022 - Copyright POOL/AFP/File Patrick Pleul
An Australian writer was barred from entry into the US because of his online commentaries. The writer, a guy called Alastair Kitchen, said that he was interrogated about his online views and then sent back to Australia.
His views included commentary on the Gaza war and college protests. According to Kitchen, who studied at Columbia, they said, “We know why you’re here”. They also found evidence on his phone of “drug use”, which is legal in most of the US.
This is true banana republic stuff.
The whole story is pretty grim. A flight attendant, not a US government official, was given charge of Mr Kitchen’s phone and passport and said he could have them back when he arrived back in Australia.
Let’s just say that only authorized people are supposed to handle ID and personal information.
There are so many ongoing stories about foreigners being refused entry to the US on what are effectively purely political grounds. The level of “forensic insanity” in this case is a bit unusual, though.
The airport interrogations are notorious. Complaints are made almost daily about brutal or arbitrary treatment of travellers. You have to wonder exactly what this chaotic approach to foreigners is supposed to achieve, except a total boycott on travel to the US.
Travel warnings against going to the US are now pretty much universal, ironically, except for Australia, which describes US entry requirements as “strict”.
Let’s clarify:
Any country can refuse entry for any reason related to the applicable laws of that country.
What laws did Mr Kitchen breach?
He arrived documented with a valid passport.
Look at it from a consumer perspective. You pay money to go all the way over there, and your money is forfeited simply because somebody feels like doing that.
You have no recourse at all in this environment.
The Australian consulate attempted to help, but not much resulted.
None of the issues raised regarding Mr Kitchen’s entry seem to have related to US laws of any kind. There are no applicable laws about foreign citizens expressing their opinions, for example.
This was a purely political process.
This sort of thing also happened in the previous Trump administration.
A statement from Australian acting prime minister Marles included the inexcusably insipid remark about our “profoundly important relationship with the United States”, strategic relationship, etc.
That’s nice.
There are other relationships that are much more important.
These include friends, relatives, and business relationships. People relationships.
Relationships that mean something.
Real Americans, the non-goosestepping variety, don’t act like cartoon dictators.
The message for travellers is DO NOT GO TO AMERICA. Boycott the place until it’s sane again.
__________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
An American Airlines plane flies past a cellular tower disguised as a palm tree as it lands at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California in January 2022 - Copyright POOL/AFP/File Patrick Pleul
An Australian writer was barred from entry into the US because of his online commentaries. The writer, a guy called Alastair Kitchen, said that he was interrogated about his online views and then sent back to Australia.
His views included commentary on the Gaza war and college protests. According to Kitchen, who studied at Columbia, they said, “We know why you’re here”. They also found evidence on his phone of “drug use”, which is legal in most of the US.
This is true banana republic stuff.
The whole story is pretty grim. A flight attendant, not a US government official, was given charge of Mr Kitchen’s phone and passport and said he could have them back when he arrived back in Australia.
Let’s just say that only authorized people are supposed to handle ID and personal information.
There are so many ongoing stories about foreigners being refused entry to the US on what are effectively purely political grounds. The level of “forensic insanity” in this case is a bit unusual, though.
The airport interrogations are notorious. Complaints are made almost daily about brutal or arbitrary treatment of travellers. You have to wonder exactly what this chaotic approach to foreigners is supposed to achieve, except a total boycott on travel to the US.
Travel warnings against going to the US are now pretty much universal, ironically, except for Australia, which describes US entry requirements as “strict”.
Let’s clarify:
Any country can refuse entry for any reason related to the applicable laws of that country.
What laws did Mr Kitchen breach?
He arrived documented with a valid passport.
Look at it from a consumer perspective. You pay money to go all the way over there, and your money is forfeited simply because somebody feels like doing that.
You have no recourse at all in this environment.
The Australian consulate attempted to help, but not much resulted.
None of the issues raised regarding Mr Kitchen’s entry seem to have related to US laws of any kind. There are no applicable laws about foreign citizens expressing their opinions, for example.
This was a purely political process.
This sort of thing also happened in the previous Trump administration.
A statement from Australian acting prime minister Marles included the inexcusably insipid remark about our “profoundly important relationship with the United States”, strategic relationship, etc.
That’s nice.
There are other relationships that are much more important.
These include friends, relatives, and business relationships. People relationships.
Relationships that mean something.
Real Americans, the non-goosestepping variety, don’t act like cartoon dictators.
The message for travellers is DO NOT GO TO AMERICA. Boycott the place until it’s sane again.
__________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
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