The Trump administration is considering subjecting all foreign students applying to study in the United States to scrutiny of their social media posts.
Politico, noting that this is a significant expansion of previous efforts, cites a cable from Foreign Foreign Minister Marco Rubio that is immediately effective.
Consular departments should not add appointments for visas for exchange students or exchange students until further instructions are issued in a separate telegram, Rubio’s telegram states.
It is not clear where the control will focus on the postings, but the telegram refers to executive orders to remove terrorists and combat anti-Semitism.
The Trump administration has imposed some social media monitoring requirements in the past, but they largely affected students who may have participated in anti-Israel protests over the war in the Gaza Strip.
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