{"id":69945,"date":"2025-07-08T09:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T09:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=69945"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T09:35:17","slug":"us-embassy-now-screens-nigerian-students-social-media-for-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/07\/08\/us-embassy-now-screens-nigerian-students-social-media-for-visas\/","title":{"rendered":"US Embassy Now Screens Nigerian Students\u2019 Social Media for Visas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Onilede Titi Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The United States Embassy in Nigeria has begun screening the social media accounts of Nigerian students applying for study visas, a move that has stirred debate among applicants and human rights advocates.<\/p>\n<p>The policy, which aligns with broader U.S. immigration security protocols, requires visa applicants to submit social media handles used in the past five years.<\/p>\n<p>Platforms reviewed include Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants in recent visa interviews in Abuja and Lagos confirmed being asked about their online presence.<\/p>\n<p>According to U.S. officials, the measure is intended to verify identities, assess intentions, and enhance national security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApplicants\u2019 online presence is one of several factors considered in assessing eligibility,\u201d a U.S. embassy official stated.<\/p>\n<p>While embassy officials describe the practice as routine, critics argue it could infringe on privacy and discourage free expression.<\/p>\n<p>Education consultants are now advising students to be cautious about their digital footprints.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria remains one of the top sources of international students in the U.S., and despite concerns, American universities continue to attract thousands of Nigerian applicants each year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Onilede Titi Faith The United States Embassy in Nigeria has begun screening the social media accounts of Nigerian students applying for study visas, a move that has stirred debate among applicants and human rights advocates. The policy, which aligns with broader U.S. immigration security protocols, requires visa applicants to submit social media handles used [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":69946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69947,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69945\/revisions\/69947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}