US Orders Social Media Vetting for Student Visa Applicants

The US State Department has ordered a review of student visa applicants’ social media presence and told them to make their profiles public, stepping up measures to restrict foreign citizens’ entry to American campuses over national security concerns.

The department instructed consular officers screening online accounts to watch for any indications of hostility toward the US.

Foreign nationals applying for student and exchange visitors visas will be asked to set their profiles to public, and the department said failure to do so would raise red flags.

“Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the department said in a statement ...