The U.S. State Department has directed consular officers to deny visas to applicants involved in fact-checking, content moderation or other activities the Trump administration views as “censorship” of Americans. According to an internal memo, officers should find H-1B applicants ineligible if they were “responsible for, or complicit in, censorship,” aligning with a policy announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May. The memo instructs officials to review résumés, LinkedIn profiles and media records for such work.
Critics say the policy wrongly equates trust-and-safety work with censorship, noting it includes efforts to stop child exploitation, fraud and abuse. “Trust and safety is a broad practice…not censoring just for the sake of it,” said Alice Goguen Hunsberger. A State Department spokesperson defended the directive, declaring the administration opposes foreigners “muzzling Americans.” First Amendment experts warned the guidance is unconstitutional as officials also move to require H-1B applicants to make their social media profiles public.