The new policy is part of the Trump administration’s desire to seek tighter control on those entering the U.S. and it is in tune with the prevalence of social media (and reflective of just how much about our lives we are willing to place on to a social media network). New processing forms requiring social media accounts to be revealed were put in place for every applicant from every country at the end of May 2019. This applies irrespective of the length of the intended stay in the U.S., extending to non-immigrant, employment, student, tourist, and business visas.
A spokesperson for the U.S. government told The Hill, a nonpartisan news outlet: “This is a critical step forward in establishing enhanced vetting of foreign nationals seeking entry into the United States…As we’ve seen around the world in recent years, social media can be a major forum for terrorist sentiment and activity. This will be a vital tool to screen out terrorists, public safety threats, and other dangerous individuals from gaining immigration benefits and setting foot on U.S. soil.”
The idea, proposed State Department, was raised in 2018, and met a strong level of public disquiet, with some organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union flagging privacy and civil liberty concerns. An earlier idea had been for voluntary request by the U.S. government for people to reveal their social media use; the new requirement has moved things up a notch and it becomes compulsory.
According to The Verge, the new policy forms part of the Trump administration’s plan for “extreme vetting” of visitors to the U.S. The new visa application forms list specific social media platforms and require applicants to “provide any identifiers used by applicants for those platforms during the five years preceding the date of application.” The list of social media platforms may be added or removed over time.
