On Monday, the United States Embassy in Japan announced via X that applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas must make their social media accounts “public.” According to the US Department of State (DOS), those who keep their social media accounts private may be deemed as trying to hide their activities. Officers have reportedly been told to reject visa applications in cases where the applicant has expressed “hostile attitudes” toward the US, advocated for or supported “designated foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security,” or supported antisemitism.
“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States,” read the post. The F, M and J visas are all student visas. F-1 is for academic studies, M-1 is for vocational or non-academic studies and J-1 is for exchange visitor programs.
Reaction to the US Embassy Post
The post by the United States Embassy in Japan has garnered more than 2 million views. Some raised concerns about their visas potentially being rejected because their social media pages are not pro-US enough. Others vented their frustration at the kind of country the US is becoming, suggesting freedom of speech is being stifled. “What happens if I criticize Trump? Isn’t that against freedom of speech? Well, thanks to your president, your country has become quite an unappealing place, so I doubt anyone would want to go there anyway,” posted one user.
Not everyone was against the ruling, though, with some posting their support. “I’m amazed at people quoting 1984,” wrote one X user. “This isn’t about the US targeting their own citizens. It’s about verifying the identities of newcomers to protect their people. Checking whether newcomers are Trojan horses for homeland defense. To prevent large-scale civil unrest or infiltration of key national institutions, this kind of vetting is essential, isn’t it? It’s a normal procedure.”
Social Media Checks Becoming Stricter in the US
The US has been checking the social media accounts of visa applicants and immigrants since at least 2019. However, in the past few months, these checks have allegedly become a lot stricter. Speaking to USA Today in April, Susanne Heubel, senior counsel at the New York-based immigration law firm Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, said that up until January 2025, the searches had been “almost negligible.” She added, “I travel a lot, I have clients who travel a lot, of all sorts of nationalities and visa statuses, and nobody has ever complained about these searches until now.”
