New US Visa Rules Will Force Foreign Students To Unlock Social Media Profiles (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0178092909
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/06/18/2323209/new-us-visa-rules-will-force-foreign-students-to-unlock-social-media-profiles
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/18/social-media-student-visa-screening
> Foreign students will be [1]required to unlock their social media profiles to allow US diplomats to review their online activity before receiving educational and exchange visas, the state department has announced. Those who fail to do so will be suspected of hiding that activity from US officials. The new guidance, unveiled by the state department on Wednesday, directs US diplomats to conduct an online presence review to look for "any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States."
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> A cable separately [2]obtained by Politico also instructs diplomats to flag any "advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security" and "support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence." The screening for "antisemitic" activity matches similar guidance given at US Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security and has been criticized as an effort to crack down on opposition to the conduct of Israel's war in Gaza.
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> The new state department checks are directed at students and other applicants for visas in the F, M and J categories, which refer to academic and vocational education, as well as cultural exchanges. "It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump administration is doing every single day," said a senior state department official, adding that Marco Rubio was "helping to make America and its universities safer while bringing the state Department into the 21st century."
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/18/social-media-student-visa-screening
[2] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/18/social-media-screening-student-visas-00413160
Just ditch all social media apps (Score:3)
There were reasons to do so already, this is just another one. At any rate, one can always install them again later. This is nothing but security theater. Again.
Re: (Score:1)
I'm guessing not having any social media will be viewed as suspicious and also grounds for being denied. This isn't so much security theater as a way to screen for Trump approved viewpoints; I'm guessing showing any amount of support for Palestinians will be labeled as "terrorist".
Re: (Score:2)
This has nothing to do with Trump. Both parts of the one-party system want a technocracy. The left/right divide is a false one. Peter Theil is the person really running things. He's a member of the PayPal mafia, just like Elon. He runs Palantir, the largest domestic spy software company in the world. (Fun fact: Oracle's first and only customer for the first two years of its existence was the CIA/US government). All these parties want to slurp up all your data, and Musk basically copied trillions of dollars
Re: (Score:1)
> Theil was also one of the founding investors in Facebook
Interesting misspelling, one which permits Sieg Theil!".
Re: Just ditch all social media apps (Score:2)
Saying there is no difference is incorrect. But it is surprising how often completely different motives lead to the same behavior. There are many overlapping factions with differing goals that sometimes align and sometimes oppose each other. Complexity is annoying, but it is real. Thiel for example has views that are largely incompatible with any faction involving manufacturing, but he wants enough of the same things that there is compromise. There are even different generalizations you can make about the p
Re:Just ditch all social media apps (Score:4, Insightful)
Thiel, Musk and Trump are all firmly in the right wing camp, so is Larry Ellison, Thiel has been right wing for his entire time we as in the public have known about him.
There is no need for the both sides kayfabe, we can just say one side is more of a threat than the other. That doesn't make the other side "good", i know for some people they would rather just die than admit that but for real, one side is worse if this is actually what you care about and not just reflexively bagging on liberals because they can be annoying and feckless, they are but they're not starting "technocracy".
We can want liberals to do better (they should) but to equivocate is doing the work of the technocrats for them, it helps them.
Re: (Score:2)
> BoThSiDeS
Yet another "uniparty" claim, attempting to somehow make Democrats appear to be just as bad as the GOP. This also somehow mitigates all the reprehensible crap that the GOP does.
What if you don't have one? (Score:2)
What if you don't have any social media? I deleted all mine in 2021. I suggest others do so too. It makes life a lot better:
[1]https://battlepenguin.com/phil... [battlepenguin.com]
[1] https://battlepenguin.com/philosophy/youll-find-me-i-promise/
Re: (Score:2)
> What if you don't have any social media? I deleted all mine in 2021.
You do know that /. comments are a form of social media, right?
An antique ASCII-era social medium, granted, but social media none the less.
Re: (Score:2)
> You do know that /. comments are a form of social media, right?
No, /. is a forum, you child of [1]Eternal September [wikipedia.org].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
Re: (Score:2)
> If you're talking to other people, you're doing it.
With such broad definition, [1]Party line [wikipedia.org] would also qualify as a social media.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)
Re: (Score:3)
No, they are not.
"Soshul media" is the dystopian crap that asks you for your phone number, matches your phonebook with that of everyone else and does its best to try and make you "interact" by purposefully sending your way crap you don't need that it thinks will make you mad.
Slashdot and forums in general are not any of these, they are a lot closer to the net news of old.
Slashdot did remove anonymous posts some years ago, though, which was a step in the wrong direction.
Re: (Score:3)
You can still post as AC, but you require an account. This is regrettable technical limitation due to inability to control the spam.
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You're right but I'd be surprised if it is included in any list. It's closed to new accounts for two years. By being specific to one topic it's also the same as any obscure Arts and Crafts phpBB forum. You have plausible deniability to say you didn't even know it existed.
Re: (Score:3)
This is for exchange students, typically 18-22 y.o. when they apply. They have not reached life stage where we delete social media.
Also, young people:
* have a LinkedIn account as they get advised to do so during their studies
* use Facebook even if only for the needed cases to interact with local businesses
* want to share pictures with family and friends just as much as everyone else and many use Instagram account, even if keeping it private. Not everybody will self-host a Nextcloud instance.
Depends (Score:3)
> Also, young people:
> * have a LinkedIn account as they get advised to do so during their studies
Depends where. In the US, in the corporate world maybe. (I am in an European country, working in academia).
Here around LinkedIn is considered barely useful. Nobody would find weird if you don't have an account on that platform.
Countless local CV-hosting platforms seem to be more popular for job hunting.
As are also online portfolio on small webpages (github.io seem to be popular in my field of work).
Bluesky and even Mastodon seem more popular network in general in my milieu.
> * use Facebook even if only for the needed cases to interact with local businesses
That seems to be very specific to
Re: (Score:2)
I also work in academia in Europe. I get questioned on why I can't be found on LinkedIn, from students (my answer is "because I don't need a new job") and from angry colleagues ("You can't be our responsible for lab X and not have a LinkedIn page!").
> I've rarely heard classic social networks being used for sharing pictures with family and friends.
What I hear from students when I ask them how is someone doing is that the person recently published a picture on Instagram or appeared on LinkedIn as newly employed. I understood it's how the young know their friends are still alive.
Re: (Score:2)
....I'm sorry Sir, having no social media is very suspicious, come with me to the secondary screening room....
What have you got to hide?
(from a man with no social media accounts looking for advice)
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They would probably assume you were lying and trying to hide your social media. I doubt they would believe a student didn't have any social media presence.
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I don't think you could have a social life as a teenager if you are not on social media.
I'm sure... (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sure said "antisemitic activity" screening won't target people just for pointing out Israel's many war crimes in this current conflict, right? ....Right?
Re: (Score:2)
The beatings will continue until [1]foregin influence in US politics [wikipedia.org] is banned.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIPAC
That's not the one to worry about... (Score:2)
Trump is both a citizen and part of your government and given how thin-skinned he is anyone saying bad things about him is going to count as being "hostile" to him. In case you had not noticed, there are not (m)any people outside the US who have anything good to say about him, well unless it is a world leader trying to butter him up for a trade deal.
Re: (Score:2)
Depending on how many competent people they've got left post-purges; and how ill-explained the criteria are, I suspect that there will be some room for embarrassing mistakes. Ethnicy-looking muslims are a nope by design, of course; but not being suitably careful about jewish Yesh Atid voters risks making it obvious that it's about being so far up Netanyahu's ass you are asking Mike Huckabee to make room; not about jews particularly; while being too sincere about looking for antisemitism could really complic
Re: (Score:2)
> ...while being too sincere about looking for antisemitism could really complicate our beautiful friendship with Reform UK and and AfD; some members of which may have made enthusiastic and somewhat intemperate observations about international Jewry; but in the good, honest, Anglo-Saxon and/or Teutonic fashion that certainly doesn't suggest backing the wrong semites.
That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white. I'm sure Reform UK, AfD, and the antisemitic portions of the Republican party would be happy to look the other way if "combating antisemitism" kept brown people out.
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> That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white.
You are insulating presence of racism without a shred of evidence. Why do you see racism in everything? You doth protest too much, methinks.
Re: (Score:2)
> Why do you see racism in everything?
I most definitely don't. Your question makes me wonder why you pretend racism doesnt exists in places where it obviously does though.
The Unite the Right rally [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] with its chants of "Jews will not replace us" that had "good people on both sides" was too recent for you to have forgotten. Never mind the many neo Nazi groups in America that are in love with Trump [2]https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com] and see this as their moment just like last time Trump was in office. I'm also certai
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite_the_Right_rally
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/neo-nazis-trump-extremism
Re: (Score:2)
No, it is not at all obvious that policy requiring foreign student applicants to provide access to social media accounts has anything to do with racism, despite your unsubstantiated claims to the contrary.
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Of course I never said what you are claiming.
What I actually said was that the antisemitic portions of the Republican base would look the other way in regards to this in the interest of keeping brown people out.
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No, you were [1]very clear [slashdot.org]:
> That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white.
I see no other way to interpret what you said.
[1] https://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23722321&cid=65460791
Re: (Score:2)
And then read the rest of what I wrote for context.... Oh, it says exactly what I said it does.
Quit being a shitbag and trying to find fault by reading things into statements that arent there.
Re: (Score:2)
You trying to walk back your own words is embarrassing. You insinuated that the policy of demanding access to social media is racist. When called out on this, you realized absurdity of your statements and now backpedaling. Too bad for you that /. does not allow editing of old posts.
Re: (Score:2)
Hahaha. I love that you accuse me of finding racism everywhere in your first post to me when you're so intent on finding fault with me you cant conceptualize what I said in any other way other than to be triggered and find fault.
I'm done with your idiocy, fuck off.
Re: (Score:2)
You will eat your own words until I am done with you:
> That's only a problem if the students being targeted are white. .... happy to look the other way if "combating antisemitism" kept brown people out.
You insinuated the policy to inspect social media is racist, intended to keep brown people out. When called on the absurdity of your statements, you went all out backpedaling. Exposing your insane views must be done, because people like you espousing toxic drivel like that must be exorcised from the polite conversation.
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That's why I was proposing it as one of the embarrassing failure modes. If someone at the State Department gets the wrong idea about the sincerity and consistency of the policy there will hardly be anybody for Turning Point USA to invite across the Atlantic to tell us about European race suicide without getting flagged. Awkward.
Obviously a solvable problem if you've got someone who knows how to carry out the quiet part without saying it and can do some cross referencing; but even if your social media tex
Re: (Score:2)
> What is a war crime?
Something like this: [1]Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid [reuters.com].
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tank-shelling-kills-45-people-awaiting-aid-trucks-gaza-ministry-says-2025-06-17/
Re: (Score:2)
I am not buying it was an accident, considering this is [1]not the first time IDF did something like that [timesofisrael.com].
[1] https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-says-idf-fire-killed-31-near-aid-hub-army-unaware-of-casualties/
Re: (Score:2)
> What is a war crime?
Many are nicely outlined in the Geneva Conventions [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] which Israel is a signatory to.
Funny that the person calling me an idiot didn't know about this.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions
Re: (Score:2)
> Youre naive.
No, you're just an amoral piece of shit.
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In what circumstances do you think war crimes are justifiable. Please be specific.
Re: (Score:2)
Despite the massive amounts of them nations had and how they were used previously there was little chemical warfare from either side in WWII so it is possible for nations to war and maintain some amount of restraint.
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"hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States" and "other threats to US national security" probably won't include supporting Trump, but they both clearly ought to.
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Interesting how only antisemitic activity is mentioned. Wonder what Israel offers the US in return for that protection?
What if you don't use social media? (Score:2)
I don't use the sorts of social media they're likely to be after (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
Well, I guess you do what everyone will do anyway and create a fake innocuous account.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't worry, this will just get you flagged as lying and lead to an automatic visa denial.
But this will be a temporary measure.
Starting 6 months from now at the latest, you'll be required to join one specific social media if you want to visit, and it won't matter if you need a visa or not. And you'll be subscribed by default for the account of the owner of that social media, the authoritative source of truthiness.
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I hate defending this shit, but 1A applies to US citizens and residents, not foreign students wanting to enter US. There is absolutely no obligation US government has to protect free speech rights of foreigners on foreign soil.
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The post you reply to hasn't cited a specific law. Because this is not whether it is legal (which it is), or even legitimate as a policy towards foreigner (which it also is). It is about having PRINCIPLES (which the politicians making this sort of decisions demonstrate they don't have).
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So something is not morally wrong if the action is taken on one side of the border against someone on the other side?
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I believe such policy is morally wrong. However, the original post is clearly talking about legality by providing examples of 1A violations and free speech of US citizens. These are apples and oranges.
Re: (Score:2)
Why do you keep twisting people's words so you can be right?
Re: (Score:2)
Words have meaning. Attempting to redefine everything until no meaningful conversation can take place is how we got to "Maryland father" and "fiery but mostly peaceful". That has to stop and the way to do it is to call it out.
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Except you're so full of your self you cant accept anything but your own eager to find fault interpretation. What should I expect from a self appointed moral crusader who says things like "people like you espousing toxic drivel like that must be exorcised from the polite conversation." [1]https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org] . Pot calling the kettle black my friend, the only toxicity here is your own eagerness to find fault and inability to see anything but your own easily triggered view.
[1] https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23722321&cid=65460947
Re: (Score:2)
Because you can’t be a fan of the current administration without monumental mental gymnastics.
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No. The US constitution applies to every person on US soil and any person that interacts with the US legal system.
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So you’re saying that student visa holders are not subject to ANY constitutional rights? Or is it somehow selective?
Re: (Score:1)
The first amendment applies to the Federal Government of the USA. It limits what laws congress can pass. Its a message to congress and how it can't pass laws taking away rights.
> [b]Congress shall make no law [/b]respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
"Congress" that's who the BOR is directing the limits to. People have inherant rights, and the BoR specifies that the govt can't pass laws taking them away. It doesn't grant rights to certain people. We didn't give the federal govt power to grant rights when we created it.
Re: (Score:2)
> these guys don't actually care. No principles.
Oh some people care, Stephen Miller truly cares about a white-America, I mean look at that guy, behold-the-master-race material if there ever was one. A true actual degenerate of a human being and we decided he should be whispering in the ear of POTUS.
Trump however will stop caring as the poll numbers continue dipping down, immigration has been his only positive and it is declining. Trump cares as much as it furthers his interests.
The thing with that and Palantir though is Trump is a bad administrator, he
Are we part of Israel now? (Score:4, Interesting)
This is what it has come to? We will scan for antisemitic activity, but nothing else? So if you post about supporting killing all Muslims, that is not a red flag they are looking for? I can understand wanting to look for anti-american sentiment (not agree with it, but at least understand it). But looking for anti-Israel sentiment and nothing else just says that Israel is running things for the US. How about any type of violence related activity toward anyone?
Re: (Score:2)
It's been that way for quite some time now. The 2003 invasion of Iraq would've been done just for Israel. It never made sense at the time and still doesn't, except if Israel's demands get factored in.
Foreign College Enrollments Way Down (Score:2)
Colleges make a lot of money off foreign students, and enrollments are way, way off, especially from China (the most lucrative group). This is not going to help, but is not nearly as important to prospective students as the brain drain of foreign-born professors who are top in their fields going back to their native countries. Why go to CalTech (or wherever) and pay through the nose for tuition, room and board, transport, etc. when the top researchers that you want to study under are leaving and going bac
Going to embarrass the US (Score:2)
A New Yorker reporter was recently [1]deported for reporting on the Columbia student protests [newyorker.com]. This unfriendly climate will kill tourism in America. Then it will have a ripple effect as future presidents and prime ministers go elsewhere to study, killing America's soft power among elites of other countries. And for what? It's not like legal student visa holders were causing a crime wave.
[1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-my-reporting-on-the-columbia-protests-led-to-my-deportation
Re: (Score:2)
> A New Yorker reporter was recently [1]deported for reporting on the Columbia student protests [newyorker.com]. This unfriendly climate will kill tourism in America. Then it will have a ripple effect as future presidents and prime ministers go elsewhere to study, killing America's soft power among elites of other countries. And for what? It's not like legal student visa holders were causing a crime wave.
At least this shows Europe ( [2]Anti-tourism is spreading across Europe [yahoo.com]) a way forward in how to stop tourism
[1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-my-reporting-on-the-columbia-protests-led-to-my-deportation
[2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/anti-tourism-spreading-across-europe-140000855.html
We can play games if you want to play games (Score:2)
Get ready for my single post to twitter that says "whoever forcibly unlocked this is a fascist piece of shit".
No problem (Score:2)
Deep cover espionage agents will have an acceptable social media profile constructed for them as a part of their legend.
Yeah, right, I'm sure that will work. (Score:2)
Ignoring for the moment that these
I expect this policy to be about as effective as asking people if they've done anything illegal lately before letting them into the country.
Founding Principles (Score:2)
> toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.
Like freedom of expression?
What if you don't have social media accounts... (Score:1)
...and they don't believe you? I have a few accounts, reddit, slashdot, etc, but i'd hardly call them social media.
Easy (Score:3)
I created on purpose a second profile in order to make me appear like a "good guy".
I will show them that one.
Re:Easy (Score:4, Funny)
Is this your first or second profile?
Re: Easy (Score:2)
42nd
Re: (Score:2)
No. 45th and 47th profiles.
Re: (Score:2)
> Is this your first or second profile?
Also, don't forget to account for [1] Rule 34 [wikipedia.org]?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_34
Re: (Score:3)
When your profiles are correlated in some way, and rest assured they will be eventually, you're going to be deported. Even if you do convince some wanna-king in black robe you are entitled to some process outside ICE, it will be slam dunk you lied on your app based on simple dates of the profiles.
I am sure your University won't refund the tuition.
Great strategy.