Uncle Sam wants you and your social media accounts
They say love means never having to say you're sorry, and apparently, visiting America means having to say, "Here's my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Pinterest, MySpace revival fan page."
Because in 2025, if you're a bright-eyed Bangladeshi student dreaming of the Ivy League or just hoping to pose with a pumpkin spice latte on a New England campus, you'd better come armed not just with academic transcripts or SAT scores, but with public social media profiles, sparkling clean and whiter than the visa officer's poplin shirt.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Yes, the land of freedom, fireworks, and filtered liberties has spoken: your feed shall be examined, dissected, and judged like a reality show contestant who dared to post #DeathToHomework in 2019. It's all part of the US State Department's new diplomatic love language: "I trust you…but let me check your digital footprint anyway."
Under the new rules, all F, M, and J visa applicants—from Fulbright scholars to exchange students—must make their social media public. Because nothing establishes "national security" like trawling through someone's 2018 throwback to a Baishakh selfie with the caption "Dhaka heat is not for the weak."
And what are they looking for, exactly? Evidence of "hostility towards American values." Which is funny, considering how many Americans seem hostile to those same values these days. But I digress.
To be fair, we Bangladeshis know a thing or two about surveillance. We come from a land where criticising the wrong tree on Facebook might lead to a phone call from the forest department. But at least we were subtle about it. The Americans, bless them, are now just upfront: "You want our visas? Strip for the algorithm."
Gone are the days when immigration checks were about smuggling muri ghonto in your suitcase. Now, it's about whether your digital persona is spicy. Did you share a meme that made fun of Trump in 2017? That might be a problem. Did your cousin post a rant about American drone strikes and tag you by mistake? Ruh-roh. Did you once like a reel featuring Palestinian keffiyehs and sad violin music? Pack your bags.
Naturally, the US Embassy in Dhaka has chimed in, reminding Bangladeshi applicants to make their accounts public "to facilitate vetting." Because God forbid someone use their private settings to, you know, protect their privacy. In 2025, privacy is the new profanity. And don't even think of deactivating your account—that's the digital equivalent of setting fire to your fingerprints.
Some say this is just bureaucracy gone wild. Others say it's the globalisation of paranoia, where every border post now doubles as a behavioural psychologist, data analyst, and moral judge. Either way, it's ironic that the same country that gave us Facebook is now penalising us for using it freely.
And what about the geopolitics of it all? Let's be honest: had this rule applied to American tourists going the other way, entire flights to Bali would be grounded over their spring break antics alone. But alas, the power dynamics are clear: we post, they pry.
The Bangladeshi student, once a symbol of ambition and soft diplomacy, is now a walking, talking Excel sheet of hashtags, likes, and filtered sunsets. You are no longer just a human being—you are a risk profile. Did you post too much? You're suspicious. Too little? Also suspicious. Only shared cat videos for five years straight? Definitely hiding something. And let's not even get into the heartbreak of losing your right to "Close Friends" stories.
But take heart, dear applicants. All is not lost. This too shall be archived. Until then, smile, sanitise your timeline, and say a little prayer to the algorithm gods. Because in this new age of diplomacy, your social media isn't just your highlight reel—it's your visa application.
Barrister Noshin Nawal is an activist, feminist, and a columnist for The Daily Star. She can be reached at [email protected].
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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