The story so far: 23 June of the US Embassy in India said in post X: “All individuals are immediately applied for a visa F, M or J to adjust the protection of personal data protection on all their social media accounts to facilitate the screening screen to perform their identity and shoes.”
With this update, the process to ensure certain types of American visas – including study there – is uncertain.
How does this affect students’ visions?
While since 2019 they have been investigating social media visas for us, the new announcement indicates that foreign students are ready to face an unprecedented level of supervision when traveling to the US to study and/or work.
Some of the social media accounts that users will now have to label and publish at their visa requests, include Reddit, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter (now X), Facebook, LinkedIn and Youtube, except for several Chinese social media platforms and other websites. space or personal sites). This means that both personal and professional qualifications, posts, answers, recorded photos/videos, past comments, marked images/posts, status updates and even “favorite” content, if possible, you will need to make US government authorities visible.
Visas for us Social media reviews have been introduced since 2019 | Photo Credit: US Ministry’s website
Why do American immigration officers check social media accounts?
In the light of pro-Palestinian student protests and demonstrations against immigration (immigration and customs enforcement) across American cities, officials probably want to ensure that Indian students coming into the country do not support or express anti-Israeli views during ongoing conflicts in West Asia.
The publication of social media of reviews on review also means that the authorities can check whether the individual’s views in accordance with the opinions of the conservative government of Trump, which is in power.
How long will social media account have to leave open?
US visa applicants are asked to report all the social media handles they have used in the last five years and then published them.
Users can first audit social media to clean their accounts and remove any sensitive or personal media before opening the public. Minors should perform this activity with the management of a trusted adult. It may also be necessary to update notifications, applications of applications, filters for sending messages and parental inspections to prevent disruption after the account publication.
No official instructions have been issued how long the bills must be open. However, visa applicants who want to play safely can maintain their accounts publicly visible from the moment they submit their request until they pass their immigration checks after entering the US, but the applicants for the visa who are kept.
While lubricating social media accounts may sound like a way to avoid this problem, remember that some technology companies even maintain deleted accounts active for several weeks or months. Your accounts may still appear in search results when the check -up process begins, may endanger the Visa application.
What are the risks of publishing social media accounts?
Protection of privacy, censorship and security risks. First of all, there are many Indian students applying for American visas for academic studies, usually minors in high school. Maintaining their accounts on social media set up to private is more than just personal preferences for them; It is essential for their security online.
Many young users who learn to navigate online spaces can publish highly personal content or photos and videos across private accounts, and to ensure that only people who are to them can see their content. Now, however, those who hope to go to the US to study, will have to either publish their accounts, or to endure personal content from their channels.
The new requirement will also make us applicants for visa, and especially children, more vulnerable to the crimes of digital security such as bullying, hacking, sexual harassment, persecution, blackmail, identification of theft and doxxing.
An increased level of targeted advertising through accounts published, including children’s advertising, is another potential threat to be considered.
Is it legal to induce applicants for a visa to set their social media accounts to the public?
Privacy experts killed new requirements for examining the US social media and compared the country’s approach to the authoritarian regime. However, they note that it is difficult to claim that personal data protection laws are violated because visa applicants may decide to ignore the application, although by doing so, they will stand out.
Sophia Cope, a lawyer for Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Group of Digital Rights, said there were many valid reasons why people have private social media accounts, such as wanting to interact and share content with credible contacts.
“The US government supports violations of the basic principle of personal data protection by asking for those looking for student or exchange visas to determine their social media accounts to the” public “for visa,” Cope said in response to Hindu.
“Ascribing to dangerous intention and penalty of future students or US visitors for protecting their online presence from the public or for not active in social media is outrage. “It is released in assessing safety threats.”
“The US must end this dangerous practice.”
Published – 27th June 2025 11:20
