Want a US Visa? Your Twitter Handle, Please

Immigration officials will now scrutinize the social media profiles of some visa applicants every bit function of the Trump administration'south vetting procedures for visitors to the US.

Officials will solicit social media handles—but not account passwords—using a revised visa application grade that was approved on May 23, Reuters reports. The form asks applicants to list all social media platforms they've used in the past five years to "create or share content (photos, videos, status updates, etc.)."

The form is a supplement to the main visa application, and not all applicants will be required to make full information technology out. Just those whom the Land Section identifies every bit potentially ineligible for a visa due to national security reasons, like connections to terrorism, must do so, according to Reuters.

The application form specifically notes that applicants need merely include social media accounts that are publicly accessible. In theory, applicants aren't required to provide the data on the supplemental form, merely the form says that leaving any section blank "may delay or prevent the processing of an individual visa awarding."

The new visa application supplement was canonical post-obit months of criticism from ceremonious rights groups over social media vetting procedures. The ACLU in February condemned an even stricter Trump administration proposal that would have asked visa applicants not simply for their social media handles, but also their usernames and passwords.

"If sharing social media passwords becomes a routine condition of international travel, there is no doubt that people will of a sudden feel a lot less able to speak freely online," ACLU staff chaser Esha Bhandari wrote.

In addition to social media account information, the newly approved form also asks for 15 years worth of travel history, besides as detailed biographical data that includes erstwhile addresses and the names of siblings, spouses, and children (but not parents).

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/news/15912/want-a-us-visa-your-twitter-handle-please

Posted by: athertonfolong.blogspot.com

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