Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Lisa Femia & Sophia Cope
“The State Department recently announced an unprecedented new requirement that applicants for student and exchange visas must set all social media accounts to ‘public’ for government review. The State Department also indicated that if applicants refuse to unlock their accounts or otherwise don’t maintain a social media presence, the government may interpret it as an attempt to evade the requirement or deliberately hide online activity. … This is an outrageous violation of privacy, one that completely disregards the legitimate and often critical reasons why millions of people choose to lock down their social media profiles, share only limited information about themselves online, or not engage in social media at all. … the administration is forcing applicants to expose a wealth of personal information to not only the U.S. government, but to anyone with an internet connection.” (07/23/25)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/you-shouldnt-have-make-your-social-media-public-get-visa