US to require foreign students to make social media profiles public for visas

The US Department of State has announced that foreign students will be required to unlock their social media profiles, allowing US diplomats to review their online activities before they can obtain educational and exchange visas. Those who fail to comply will face suspicion from US officials for concealing these activities.

The new guidance, released by the State Department on Wednesday, instructs US diplomats to conduct online presence reviews, searching for “any signs of hostility towards US citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”

In a separate cable obtained by Politico, diplomats are also instructed to flag “advocacy, aid, or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security” and “support for illicit antisemitic harassment or violence.” The screening for “antisemitic” activities aligns with similar directives issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, and has been criticized as an effort to suppress opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The State Department’s new checks target students and other visa applicants in the F, M, and J categories, which cover academic, vocational, and cultural exchange programs.

“American citizens expect their government to make every effort to make our country safer, and the Trump administration is doing just that,” a senior State Department official stated, arguing that Marco Rubio “is helping to make America and its universities safer while bringing the State Department into the 21st century.”

The Trump administration had suspended the issuance of new student visas late last month while it considered new social media screening strategies. The US has also subjected Chinese students to special scrutiny amid tense negotiations over tariffs and the supply of rare earth metals and minerals to the United States.

The State Department’s directive has allowed diplomatic missions to resume interview programs for educational and exchange visas but added that consular officers will subject all F, M, and J visa applicants to a “comprehensive and detailed review.”

“To facilitate this review, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be asked to change the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to ‘public’,” the official said. “Strengthening the social media review will ensure that we properly screen every individual who wishes to visit our country.”