Trump wants to screen social media of foreign students: "alarming and dictatorial measure"

A photo of a drunken party on your Instagram, an old politically coloured quote on your Facebook profile, or a chat message in which you gave your opinion about President Donald Trump? The American authorities will likely have seen it before you’ve even set foot on American soil.

The Trump administration is introducing new measures in the battle against foreign students. Foreign students wishing to go to the US must now, according to Trump, agree to thorough screening of their social media profiles. Trump wants to keep all non-American students out. Recently, he has targeted elite university Harvard, which he claims is too liberal and, through foreigners, allows antisemitism on campus. Although a judge has temporarily blocked Trump’s ban, a final decision still needs to be made. The American news platform Politico disclosed last week that Trump’s team had asked all American embassies to stop scheduling new interviews for student visas. The president’s wish to scrutinise the social media of all incoming students was swiftly made public afterwards.

An "alarming and dictatorial measure", say several Belgian students anonymously and unanimously in Het Nieuwsblad.

(FVDV - Source: Politico/Het Nieuwsblad/CBS - Illustration: ©picture alliance Consolidated News Photos Samuel Corum - Pool via CNP)