Beware! Your admission to US university depends on what you do on social media, US to do social media vetting by...

If you are planning to take admission into a US university like Harvard or Princeton, think twice before you do anything on social media platforms. Your admission to these prestigious universities for which you are ready to take a huge loan will depend on what you write like or share your posts on any of the social media platforms like Facebook, X, and, Instagram. Trump administration is ordering its embassies and consular sections abroad to halt scheduling new student visa interviews as it considers social media vetting for such individuals.

Social media vetting before visa

According to the Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has signed a cable asking the State Department to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting before issuing a visa. It has also asked to cancel all visa interviews before social media vetting is done. Confirming the move, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas. He said, "We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise." It is seen as the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on international students.

What is social media vetting?

In social media vetting or checking, a candidate's online and social media presence is analysed so that it can be ascertained if he has negative behaviours such as bullying, racism, nudity, and excessive bad language. Similarly, potential privacy issues, such as leaking information, and content that could potentially damage the reputation can also be checked.

There are professional social media experts to check the credentials and political leaning of an individual by objective assessment of a candidate’s social media profile. It can provide confidence that the applicant is not a risk to the US the university or the company he wants to join. 

Donald Trump cracks whip

The latest decision has come after Trump's administration's crackdown on foreign students. The Trump administration last week revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students and removed it from the programme that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. Earlier in spring this year,  the administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already studying in the US. Most of the students left the US fearing deportation.