The United States (US) State Department on Wednesday, June 18, announced that it is resuming student visa applications for foreigners. However, this announcement has come with a condition — all applicants will have to enable access to their social media accounts for the visa committee’s review, as reported by Hindustan Times. 

The department notified that the consular officers will now check for messages or posts that are inimical to the United States – its government, institutions, culture, or founding values. 

A notice released on Wednesday, June 18, by the Department stated that student visa applicants who do not comply with its new rules — to make their social media accounts public — may face rejection. 

The department further announced that the suspension imposed on student visa processing in May has now been revoked. It further said that denying access to social media accounts will be seen as an attempt to conceal online behaviour or circumvent screening.

The officials reportedly stated that the Trump administration halted new visa interview appointments for international students in May to tighten social media screening. 

Students all across the globe have been on edge, eagerly awaiting the US consulates to resume scheduling, with meagre time left to arrange travel and accommodation before the academic year commences. 

The department, in its statement, said that a meticulous vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants will now be conducted to facilitate a comprehensive screening of every single visitor to the US. “To facilitate this vetting,” applicants “will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to “public” – it read.  

However, this move was not welcomed without criticism. Jameel Jaffer, Executive Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, took a jab at the move, condemning that it echoes ideological vetting from the Cold War times, which excluded artists and intellectuals

“This policy makes a censor of every consular officer, and it will inevitably chill legitimate political speech both inside and outside the United States," he added.