Trump admin may deny H-1B visas to people who worked in content moderation, report says

The Trump administration has ordered US consulates to consider rejecting H-1B visa applicants involved in content moderation or “censorship,” according to a report from Reuters. A State Department cable viewed by the outlet says officials should check an applicant’s resume or LinkedIn profile for a job history involving moderation, fact-checking, online safety, compliance, and misinformation.

As reported by Reuters, the cable says the policy applies to all visa applicants, but it’s directed at people applying for an H-1B visa who may have had a history of working in “social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression.” Many tech companies, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, hire highly skilled workers on H-1B visas.

“If you uncover evidence an applicant was responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States, you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible,” the cable says, according to Reuters. “You must thoroughly explore their employment histories to ensure no participation in such activities.”

President Donald Trump began tightening immigration policies earlier this year, instructing the State Department to screen the social media accounts of student visa applicants and later requiring a $100,000 fee alongside H-1B visa applications. Trump has since paused immigration applications from 19 “countries of concern” following the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC.

“People who study misinformation and work on content-moderation teams aren’t engaged in ‘censorship’ — they’re engaged in activities that the First Amendment was designed to protect,” Carrie DeCell, the senior staff attorney and legislative advisor at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, says in a statement. “This policy is incoherent and unconstitutional.”

When asked about its new immigration vetting process, a State Department spokesperson told Reuters that the agency doesn’t comment on “allegedly leaked documents” but added that “we do not support aliens coming to the United States to work as censors muzzling Americans.” The State Department didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

Correction, December 4th: Corrected mention of “H1-B” visa to “H-1B.”