U.S. authorities are reported to be considering a plan to mandate social media (SNS) screening for students wishing to study in the United States.
On the 27th (local time), the U.S. political news outlet Politico reported that the U.S. State Department directed diplomatic missions worldwide to temporarily suspend student visa interviews in order to implement the system.
According to Politico, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted in a statement that “the consular offices should immediately suspend additional visa interview appointments until a separate instruction containing further guidance is issued in preparation for the expansion of SNS screening and verification.”
However, interviews that are already booked are expected to proceed as scheduled.
The full statement specified that the types of visas temporarily suspended for interviews include ▲ U.S. university student and language training visas (F) ▲ vocational trainee visas (M) ▲ exchange researchers and student visas in education, arts, and sciences (J).
Following the outbreak of the Gaza War in October 2023, as anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian protests occurred at U.S. universities, the Trump administration introduced SNS screening requirements for foreign students participating in the protests, leading to the cancellation of numerous visas for students and researchers involved in anti-Israel activities.
This is seen as a continuation of that policy, as the U.S. plans to conduct SNS activity screenings to decide on visa issuance for foreign students wishing to study in the country and clarify the scope.
However, there are also predictions that SNS posts criticizing the U.S. or strongly criticizing former President Trump, beyond just anti-Semitism, will also be subject to scrutiny.
On the 20th, Minister Rubio emphasized at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that “visas are not a right but a privilege” and that “we will continue to cancel the visas of those who come as guests and disrupt our higher education institutions.”