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.
Source:- Geek.ng
