Perhaps it’s time to be a little
more careful with how you use social media. Social media is already influencing
job search in some countries but in the coming year, your social media posts
may influence your US visa application.
According to the the Wall Street
Journal, the US Department of Homeland Security is already set to put into
place protocols to examine how visa applicants use the social media. This means
your posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks may get your visa
application approved or denied. Under this new policy, checking an applicant’s
posts on Facebook and Twitter may become standard for visa application.
This is obviously driven by the
recent San Bernardino shooting where one of the attackers had already made use
of social media to express her support for extremism. Most of these social
media posts were made before she even applied for the US visa and a simple
background check on social media activities probably would’ve prevented her
entry to the US in the first place.
A statement sent to Business Insider
by the Department of State Security said:
In fact, over the last year, under
Secretary Johnson’s leadership, the Department initiated three pilot programs
to specifically incorporate appropriate social media review into its vetting of
applicants for certain immigration benefits.
The Department is actively
considering additional ways to incorporate the use of social media review in
its various vetting programs.
There isn’t much much information on
this right now and the DHS is keeping a lid on how the plan is going to be carried
out but given the present situation, getting into the US is going to be a lot
harder. What you consider a normal Facebook post might raise a red flag.
As an individual, perhaps it’s time
to be more careful on social media. Your posts on Facebook and Twitter may
later affect you. Even the kind of videos you put up on Youtube should be
decent.
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