State Department orders embassies to pause student visa appointments as it moves to expand social media vetting | CNN Politics
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The US State Department has instructed US embassies and consulates around the world to pause new student visa appointments as it develops guidance to expand “social media screening and vetting” to all applicants for student visas, according to a diplomatic cable seen by CNN.

The US State Department has instructed US embassies and consulates around the world to pause new student visa appointments as it moves to expand “social media screening and vetting” to all applicants for student visas, according to a diplomatic cable seen by CNN.

It’s the latest move from the Trump administration that could deter international students from studying at universities in the United States.

The cable, issued on Tuesday morning and signed by Marco Rubio, comes as the Trump administration has revoked scores of student visas and has attempted to stop foreign students from studying at Harvard University – a move that has been halted by a judge for the time being.

        • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
          3·
          6 days ago

          It’s safest to assume that, if you’re posting on public social media, that your words will eventually be linked to your physical person.

          When you’re talking about an entity like the US Government, it will have a lot of tools to de-anonymize you (See: Snowden).

          It is safest for the average person to just assume that everything you’re posting on social media has your real-life name attached to it and that a federal law enforcement agent is reading what you post.

          VPNs don’t help you from being browser fingerprinted or from zero-day exploits or any number of other attack types that can de-anonymize you. The Internet isn’t anonymous and hasn’t been for over a decade.