Hertta-Maria Amutenja
The Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) has condemned a new U.S. visa policy that requires student and exchange visa applicants to make their social media accounts public.
Nanso says the rule threatens freedom of expression and political independence for Namibian youth.
“It’s quite a terrible policy, because it takes away the right of self-expression of our students. Ideally, there must be separation between your academic, professional, and personal life and that must not be used against you,” said Nanso president Dorthea Nangolo in an interview with the Windhoek Observer.
She warned that the policy could be used to block students who share critical views about U.S. foreign policy or international justice.
“We always want our students to express themselves politically, and we already know the tactic here. The tactic is to automatically reject or not take in students who openly speak out against acts that are morally wrong that are being carried out by the United States,” she said.
Nangolo said many students are unaware of how their online activity could affect their eligibility.
“It’s a matter of making them aware of that. Especially students who are open about global political and international laws, they run the risk of being sidelined and victimised because of their openness about those things,” she said.
The U.S. Department of State argues that the measure is intended to protect national security.
“Visa issuance is not a right but a matter of national security,” the department has said.
The policy affects applicants under the F, M, and J visa categories, which include international academic students, vocational trainees, and cultural exchange participants.
These applicants are now required to set their social media accounts to “public” so consular officers can review them during the visa vetting process.
The U.S. Embassy in Namibia confirmed that the rule is already in effect.
“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under U.S. law,” the Embassy said in a statement this week.
Earlier this year, U.S. media reported that more than 300 student visa holders had their visas revoked after artificial intelligence flagged their online activity.
Some had liked or shared posts seen as supportive of Hamas or critical of U.S. policy.
They were ordered to leave the country without being detained or offered a chance to appeal.
The new rule expands the role of digital surveillance in visa processing. Privacy advocates have raised concerns that AI tools may misinterpret political views or cultural context.
