The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will begin analyzing social media as part of its review of all visa applicants process before anyone is allowed entry into the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apparently, such actions were prohibited before by some sort of secret policy of our Government.
The move is part of a new focus on the use of social networking sites following the San Bernardino, Calif.,shooting
The programs currently used by DHS apparently do not sweep up all social media posts
According to reports, a secret U.S. policy prohibiting immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas was kept in place for fears of a civil liberties backlash and “bad public relations.”
Malik received a U.S. visa in May 2014, despite what the FBI said were extensive social media messages about jihad and martyrdom.
Allowing visa reviewers to review social media postings however is no guarantee that a would-be immigrant who has radicalized views will be discovered. Facebook and Twitter users can make their pages private and aliases are routinely employed.