Extreme vetting: US now wants to see what you post on Facebook, Twitter before giving you a visa

The US government wants those applying to it for visa to submit their social media information for five years to the date of the application. This comes after US president Donald Trump’s promise of “extreme vetting”. The US state department has always asked for personal details like, family member information, travel history and certain contact information.

It maintains that the new rule is for better scrutiny in view of national security. This will require around 14.7 million people annually to submit their detail. ‘Extreme vetting’ was an important plank in Trump’s massaging of his core electorate’s xenophobia. Since 2017, various US departments have had to provide a ‘uniform baseline’ to curb illegal immigration.