USA Today: State Dept. Now Reviewing Foreign Reporters’ Social Media Accounts
USA Today reports that, beginning October 1, the State Department will review social media accounts of foreign journalists applying for I visas, requiring applicants to make their profiles public or open. AILA Supervisory Policy and Practice Counsel Kate Angustia questioned why additional scrutiny is needed, saying it is “unclear to us why they also need to scrutinize their thoughts and viewpoints,” while AILA member Matthew Maiona warned that the policy is “a quiet assault, or maybe a not-so-quiet assault on the First Amendment.”