US will expand social media, work history vetting for H-1B visas

Past enactment successful contented moderation oregon successful tackling misinformation and disinformation could beryllium grounds for rejection.

The United States is expanding its vetting process for highly skilled H-1B visa applicants to see much societal media checks, arsenic applicants moving successful fields similar misinformation and disinformation volition besides look enhanced scrutiny.

The US Department of State said Thursday that each H-1B applicants and their dependants indispensable marque each their societal media profiles nationalist to guarantee they “do not mean to harm Americans and our nationalist interests”. The determination follows a akin bid successful July that each pupil visa applicants indispensable marque their societal media profiles public.

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H-1B visas let US companies to prosecute overseas employees with “speciality” knowledge, usually successful academia oregon fields similar medicine, technology, concern and engineering. While they are classified arsenic impermanent visas, successful practice, the H -1B provides a pathway to immigrate to the US.

As portion of its enhanced checks, the State Department volition besides scrutinise H-1B applications for enactment successful fields that beforehand the censorship of “free speech”, according to an interior cablegram obtained by the Reuters quality agency.

The December 2 cablegram orders consular unit to reappraisal applicants’ LinkedIn and employment past for immoderate enactment successful “misinformation, disinformation, contented moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety” oregon “social media oregon fiscal services companies progressive successful the suppression of protected expression”.

The caller rules use to immoderate accompanying household members and applicants renewing their H-1B visa.

“If you uncover grounds an applicant was liable for, oregon complicit in, censorship oregon attempted censorship of protected look successful the United States, you should prosecute a uncovering that the applicant is ineligible,” the cablegram said.

The determination marks a departure for the US State Department, which erstwhile funded overseas projects aimed astatine fact-checking and astatine warring misinformation and disinformation, alongside the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

US President Donald Trump has moved to chopped down connected what helium sees arsenic restrictions connected “free speech” – usually of blimpish voices – since returning to the White House successful January. Trump himself was antecedently deplatformed from X, formerly known arsenic Twitter, pursuing the January 6, 2021, onslaught connected the US Capitol. He was reinstated aft tech billionaire and escaped code absolutist Elon Musk bought the level successful 2022.

One of his archetypal moves arsenic president was to motion an enforcement bid banning “federal censorship” of escaped speech. In May, the US State Department besides threatened to barroom overseas officials from entering the US who had worked to suppress escaped speech, including by pressuring US tech companies to modulate societal media content.

Much of Trump’s ire has focused connected Europe, which has stronger contented regulations and stronger laws connected hatred code than the US. It is unclear however the Trump Administration volition attack US allies similar Australia, which this period banned societal media for children nether 16.