Dawn
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11:44 Aug 07, 2026
The US State Department will vet the social media accounts of foreign journalists applying for visas to work in the United States, according to a media report on Thursday. The report in the conservative news outlet The Daily Signal cited an internal memo that said an initiative by President Donald Trump’s administration that requires applicants for many visa types to make their social media accounts public for screening was being expanded to include foreign media representatives. Applicants for another type of visa for workers from Canada and Mexico also will now be included in the screening, it said. The White House and the State Department’s official accounts on X shared a link to the article, but the State Department declined to confirm the specifics of the report, citing a policy of not commenting on “purported internal documents”. A State Department spokesperson said that what the department calls “online presence vetting” is used to ensure that applicants are eligible for a visa under US law. “Th...