State Department reportedly orders visa denials tied to speech censorship as Trump team slams Europe

The Trump medication has reportedly ordered U.S. consular officers to use heightened scrutiny to H-1B visa applicants and cull anyone recovered to person participated successful "censorship oregon attempted censorship" of protected code successful the United States, according to an interior State Department cable.

Reuters reported that the directive, sent to each U.S. missions connected Dec. 2, instructs consular officers to reappraisal resumes, LinkedIn profiles and immoderate publically disposable accusation to find whether an applicant — oregon household members traveling with them — antecedently worked successful areas including misinformation, disinformation, contented moderation, fact-checking, compliance oregon online safety. 

According to the cablegram cited by Reuters, officers should "pursue a uncovering that the applicant is ineligible" if they uncover grounds the idiosyncratic was "responsible for, oregon complicit in, censorship oregon attempted censorship of protected look successful the United States."

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New State Department argumentation adds speech-related roles, including fact-checking and contented moderation, to the criteria for visa denial. (iStock)

While the directive applies to each visa categories, the cablegram calls for peculiar scrutiny of H-1B applicants due to the fact that they "frequently enactment successful the exertion sector, including successful societal media oregon fiscal services companies progressive successful the suppression of protected expression." The vetting requirements use to some caller and repetition applicants.

Reuters besides reported that the cable, not antecedently disclosed, instructs consular officers: "You indispensable thoroughly research their employment histories to guarantee nary information successful specified activities."

A elder State Department authoritative told Fox News Channel's Gillian Turner, "While we bash not remark connected allegedly leaked documents, marque nary mistake, the Administration has made wide that it defends Americans' state of look against foreigners who privation to censor them. We bash not enactment aliens coming to the United States to enactment arsenic censors muzzling Americans. In the past, the President himself was the unfortunate of this benignant of maltreatment erstwhile societal media companies locked his accounts. He does not privation different Americans to endure this way. Allowing foreigners to pb this benignant of censorship would some insult and injure the American people."

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The determination comes arsenic the medication intensifies its disapproval of censorship successful Europe. Vice President JD Vance responded connected Dec. 4 to reports of a imaginable EU good against X, posting connected his authoritative account: "Rumors swirling that the EU committee volition good X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging successful censorship. The EU should beryllium supporting escaped speech, not attacking American companies implicit garbage."

Further underscoring the administration's determination to combat censorship, Undersecretary of State Sarah Rogers posted a video connected X responding to a European subordinate of parliament stating she was "revisiting immoderate remarks for which radical successful Europe and besides the U.K. person been investigated oregon arrested oregon jailed by their governments implicit the past fewer years," and listed examples from Germany, the U.K. and Sweden."

Illustrative H-1B visa application; the caller screening rules people applicants who often enactment successful the tech sector, including successful contented moderation and online information roles.

She stated successful part, "A German pistillate notoriously received a harsher jailhouse condemnation than a convicted rapist aft the pistillate called the rapist ‘a disgraceful pig."

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In May, Rubio threatened visa bans for radical who censor code by Americans, including connected societal media, and suggested the argumentation could people overseas officials regulating U.S. tech companies. (Reuters)

The medication has already tightened vetting procedures for pupil visas by instructing officers to surface applicants’ social-media enactment for posts hostile to the United States. President Donald Trump besides imposed caller H-1B fees successful September arsenic portion of a broader migration overhaul. The enhanced censorship-related screening represents the latest measurement successful the administration’s effort to necktie U.S. visa argumentation to its free-speech agenda.

Fox News Channel's Gillian Turner and Reuters contributed to this report.