Trump’s administration has issued a directive that applicants requiring Green Cards must discourse their social media history as part of the vetting process.
In the new policy proposal, the vetting policy will apply to all visa categories such as diversity visas, work and students visas and tourist visas.
Among the social media channels that will need to be verified will include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn among others.
The applicants will be required to submit any old email addresses and phone numbers used in the past five years.
The data will be stored by U.S. authorities and shared among various state agencies.
There might be a possibility that the data would be shared with foreign governments allied with U.S. as a security measure.
According to the U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services (USCIS), vetting social media accounts will be necessary for enhancing identity verification, vetting and national security screening.
The move will affect thousands of Kenyans who have been planning to relocate abroad.
Civil rights organisations have slammed the move and argued that it violates privacy rights and could hinder freedom of speech online.
