WASHINGTON, — The State Department has issued an internal directive instructing consular staff to deny visa applications, particularly for the H-1B highly skilled worker visa, to individuals involved in fact-checking, content moderation, or other activities the Trump administration characterizes as “censorship” of Americans’ speech.
The internal memo, first reported by Reuters, targets applicants who have worked in roles focused on preventing online abuse, including teams often known in the tech industry as “trust and safety.”
“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” for a visa, the memo states.
Administration Claims to Defend Freedom of Expression
The directive is based on a policy announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May that restricts visas for “foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans.” The administration has been a staunch critic of tech companies’ efforts to moderate content on their platforms, frequently citing the banning of President Donald Trump from several platforms after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as proof that conservatives are unfairly targeted.
A State Department spokesperson, who declined to be named, defended the policy in a statement. While refusing to comment on “allegedly leaked documents,” the spokesperson stated, “the Administration has made clear that it defends Americans’ freedom of expression against foreigners who wish to censor them. We do not support aliens coming to the United States to work as censors muzzling Americans.”
The statement specifically referenced the former president’s experience: “In the past, the President himself was the victim of this kind of abuse when social media companies locked his accounts. He does not want other Americans to suffer this way. Allowing foreigners to lead this type of censorship would both insult and injure the American people.”
Impact on Tech Sector and Trust & Safety Professionals
The memo specifically calls out H-1B visa applicants, noting that “many work in or have worked in the tech sector, including in social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression.” It directs consular officers to “thoroughly explore” applicants’ work histories for activities such as combating misinformation, disinformation or false narratives, fact-checking, content moderation, compliance, and trust and safety through reviews of resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and media appearances.
Current and former tech workers quickly pushed back on the department’s characterization.
“I’m alarmed that trust and safety work is being conflated with ‘censorship’,” said Alice Goguen Hunsberger, who has worked in trust and safety at tech companies including OpenAI and Grindr. “Trust and safety is a broad practice which includes critical and life-saving work to protect children and stop CSAM [child sexual abuse material], as well as preventing fraud, scams, and sextortion. T&S workers are focused on making the internet a safer and better place, not censoring just for the sake of it.”
She added that having “global workers at tech companies in [trust and safety] absolutely keeps Americans safer” due to their understanding of different languages and cultures.
First Amendment Concerns Raised
The guidance has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts who argue the policy itself may infringe on free speech.
“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,” said Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney and legislative advisor at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “This policy is incoherent and unconstitutional.”
The push to scrutinize visa applicants for alleged “censorship” comes just one day after the State Department announced a separate rule requiring H-1B visa applicants and their dependents to set their social media profiles to “public” for official review.
