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U.S. Restarts Student Visas, Requires Public Social Media Screening

Critics warn mandatory public profiles for screening hostile or extremist content risks suppressing legitimate political speech

Chinese students wait outside the U.S. Embassy for their visa application interviews, in Beijing on May 2, 2012.
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Inset: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio poses during a meeting with the Kazakhstan deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington, DC on June 12, 2025. Main: An employee checks phones as pro-Palestinian supporters hold picket line outside Columbia University, Tuesday, Sep. 3, 2024, in New York.
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Overview

  • The State Department resumed student visa interviews on June 18 after a monthlong pause to implement new social media vetting requirements.
  • Under the new policy, applicants for F, M, and J visas must set their social media privacy settings to public so consular officers can review posts for hostility toward U.S. values, support for foreign terrorists, or antisemitic activity.
  • Applicants who refuse to unlock their profiles risk visa denial if officers interpret the refusal as an attempt to conceal online content.
  • Thousands of prospective students, particularly from China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines, have been closely monitoring appointment portals ahead of the fall term.
  • Rights groups caution that mandating public social media checks could chill protected political expression and echoes Cold War–style ideological screening.