Ruiyan Wang

Yale administrators have recommended that student visa applicants look through their social media accounts and determine whether they may run afoul of a new U.S. government social media vetting policy.

As the State Department on Wednesday lifted a three-week pause on scheduling new student visa interviews, it also announced that applicants will now “be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public.’”

In a Thursday email to current and incoming international students and scholars, Yale’s Office of International Students and Scholars advised that students going through the vetting process consider following this directive by proactively changing their privacy settings.

“You should evaluate your risk regarding your social media presence and digital footprint to determine what, if any, action you should take before applying for a visa,” Ozan Say, the office’s director, wrote in the email, which the News obtained. “If you are seriously concerned about your social media or internet presence, you should speak to an experienced immigration attorney to help you consider your plans.”

Wednesday’s policy change is the latest move in the Trump administration’s increasing scrutiny of international students at U.S. universities, frequently justified on grounds of national security and accusations of antisemitism. In April, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the Department of Homeland Security would begin screening international students’ social media activity for antisemitism.

Say’s email referred to the State Department announcement, as well as recent media coverage of an internal State Department cable reportedly sent from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to U.S. embassies and consulates on Wednesday.

The cable, first reported by the Free Press and confirmed by various outlets but not reviewed by the News, apparently instructed officials in U.S. embassies and consulates to screen applicants’ social media posts, looking for people “who bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles; who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security; or who perpetrate unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”

While the cable reportedly singled out the possibility of finding “on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities,” it also noted that consular officers can distinguish at their discretion between different kinds of activism and determine whether they pose a threat, according to the Free Press.

The cable is reported to have asked U.S. embassies and consulates to implement the new vetting procedures within five business days. Say wrote in his email that the procedures would thus “likely” begin by June 26.

Camila Valenzuela ’29, an incoming first year from Chile who has a student visa interview scheduled for July, said the news left her confused about how her social media accounts may be judged.

“It’s all very uncertain because there are no clear guidelines on what the embassy is looking for on your social media or what is deemed as a threat and could get your visa declined,” Valenzuela said.

Wednesday’s State Department cable reportedly states that students seeking to study at schools where less than 15 percent of students come from outside the U.S. will receive priority in expediting their visa applications — a possibility Say noted in his Thursday email. 

“We do not know what methods might be used by U.S. posts for such prioritization,” Say wrote.

In the 2024-25 school year, 24.3 percent of Yale’s student body was international. 

Wednesday’s policy change does not impact the federal government’s most recent travel ban against 19 nations, Say added in his email.

The Office of International Students & Scholars is located at 421 Temple St.

Baala Shakya contributed reporting.