cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30384634
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.
And that’s the problem with posting everything to social media and not caring about privacy. What’s acceptable today can be problematic tomorrow and treason the day after that.
Censoring ourselves out of fear of what the government might do to us someday is no way to live tho
Sure, but speech can also be ephemeral. Broadcasting speech on social media is anything but ephemeral. We shouldn’t feel the need to self-censor to have normal dialog online, and we should be more privacy-seeking too.