U.S. State Department proposes social media screening for visa applicants

MANILA, Philippines – Getting a US visa might become tougher as the US State Department submitted a proposal to include social media vetting for certain visa applicants. The move is a push towards US president Donald Trump’s desire for “extreme vetting” as a way to curb terrorism. 

In February, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly, said they were considering having US embassies ask for the passwords to the social media accounts of applicants. Kelly specified 7 countries that the department believes should undergo the social media screening measures: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. They consider these Muslim-majority countries to have weak background screening of their own. 

In the new proposal submitted on Thursday, May 4, user passwords would not be demanded from applicants. Instead, they will be asked to submit all their social media account names or handles used in the last five years.

Along with these, they will be required to submit all prior passport numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information. Applicants can choose not to submit the said items, but will need to provide a reason for doing so. 

The proposal stated that the said procedures will apply to those “who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities.” But no further elaborations were made regarding the criteria. They did, however, provide an estimate of the number of applicants that will be affected: 65,000 individuals per year or 0.5% of all US visa applicants in the world. 

A newsletter by US-based intelligence firm The Soufan Group said that this targeted approach will make social media screening more logistically feasible as opposed to a wholesale strategy where every applicant’s entire social media history is screened. 

The firm also mentioned that while the “majority of recent terror attacks in the US have not involved refugees or those on temporary visas,” social media inspection may add to the US government’s ability to spot terror threats. They noted that investigations of several attacks such as the San Bernardino shooting of 2015 uncovered social media postings that may have hinted at the attack, fortifying the rationale for the proposal.

The proposal will undergo a public comment period before being approved or denied by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) by May 18; and will undergo review by the The Department of Homeland Security, according to Reuters. 

Prior to the proposal, the Trump administration attempted to ban the entry of nationals from several Muslim-majority countries to the US, working under the same impetus. The move was handed a restraining order by a Seattle judge in February but is seeking to free itself at a US appeals court hearing on Monday, May 8, US time.

Click here to see the State Department’s proposal submitted to the Federal Register. – Rappler.com