State Department unveils social media screening rules for all student visa applicants

[justaprogressive]

U.S. diplomats have officially been directed to screen the social media and online presence of all foreign nationals applying for student and other educational visas, according to a State Department cable issued Wednesday and obtained by POLITICO.

In the cable, consular officers are directed to review applicants’ online presence for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.” The cable also instructs embassies to flag any “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”

Support for the Hamas militant group is listed as a specific example.

The cable appears to be the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s efforts to punish American colleges and universities for their handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus and root out what it alleges is rampant antisemitism and liberalism at elite institutions of higher learning. It also comes as the Trump administration seeks to limit pathways to legal immigration to the United States in tandem with its crackdown on undocumented migrants on U.S. soil.

The cable directs consular officers to flag “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism” and directs them to “consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.”

It states that this screening will apply for both new and returning student visa applicants. Consular officers must take “detailed case notes” about their review of applicants’ online presences and “take screenshots to preserve the record against possible later alteration or loss of the information.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/18/social-media-screening-student-visas-00413160