With increasing concerns about security the United State has once again reiterated that all visa applicants, including Indians, set their social media accounts to public for enhanced screening of tourists and immigrants in view of “national security and public safety.” The US Embassy in India has confirmed that it has asked visa applicants to list the usernames or handles of every social media platform they have used over the last five years in their application form. There should be no accounts during this period and all your social media profiles should be in the open for access to US visa team. All applicants should immediately change their personal settings and keep all their profiles and social media content public. Failure to do so could end up to rejection of visa or even revoking of the visa.
“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to public to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under US law,” the US Embassy has said in a notification
A similar notification was issued for DS-160 visa applicants on June 26. The increased focus on social media scrutiny for securing US visas, including for Indians working and studying in American institutions, has become more precarious.
Why This Social Media Scrutiny?
The provision for social media vetting for US visa applicants has been in place since 2019. However, the new announcements signal that foreign nationals will be subjected to an increased level of scrutiny. The enhanced surveillance comes amid President Trump’s crackdown on immigration, leading to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids on illegal immigrants.
A lot of young students are also getting active on American campuses. We all know students who protested America’s Israel support during their graduation ceremonies,
It also coincides with rising anti-Israel protests and anti-ICE sentiment on college campuses across the United States, particularly after several government actions against pro-Palestinian students. The Trump administration appears to be filtering out applicants who have dissenting views, especially on geopolitical flash points such as Israel-Palestine or immigration enforcement. Authorities appear to be monitoring individuals’ cultural values, political leanings, and perceived “radical” views expressed on social media.
Which Accounts are Facing Scrutiny?
Some social media accounts that applicants will have to make public and report to immigration authorities include Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads and Facebook. Visa applicants may also have to share the handles of several Chinese social media platforms like TikTok and WeChat, and other websites such as Bluesky, unlisted blogging spaces, or personal websites.
This means US authorities may track an individual’s all personal and professional social media activities, including posts, uploaded photos/videos, replies, past comments, status updates, tagged pictures/posts, and even “liked”.
How to Sanitise your Online Footprints?
Clean up your accounts, delete all personal and irrelevant and controversial inormation. Ensure you don’t store any sensitive content. Before handling away your accounts to US officers, ensure that it is all clean and the accounts are not personal but reset on public mode. Remember deleting an account is not a solution. That is rather a tackle way to draw unwanted attention.
Applicants can also delete their social media accounts, but it’s not a foolproof way to avoid scrutiny. Several social media platforms retain user data for weeks or months after the accounts are deleted, meaning old accounts can still show up during background checks.
There is no official notification regarding the timeframe for which the visa applicants need to keep their social media accounts public. However, to play safe, they can keep their accounts open from the time of submitting the visa application till the time applicants get a visa and enter the US.
Also Read: Gujarat: Rs 2.07 Cr Returned To Cyber Fraud Victims Under ‘Tera Tujhko Arpan’ Project https://www.vibesofindia.com/gujarat-rs-2-07-cr-returned-to-cyber-fraud-victims-under-tera-tujhko-arpan-project/
