A new lawsuit is challenging the Trump administration's efforts to require US visa applicants to disclose their social media accounts to immigration officers.
On Thursday, two US-based documentary film organizations filed a court complaint to overturn the policy, which was born out of President Trump's call for "extreme vetting" of foreigners entering the country.
In late May, the government began demanding most foreigners submit their social media handles on their US visa applications as a way to improve the screening process. However, the two documentary film groups argue the new rule violates the First Amendment, which was written to prevent the US government from suppressing free speech.
"The Registration Requirement, along with related retention and dissemination policies, chills protected speech," claims the lawsuit from Doc Society and the International Documentary Association.
BREAKING: @TheDocSociety and @IDAorg, represented by @knightcolumbia, @BrennanCenter, and Simpson Thacher sue over new rules requiring visa applicants to register their social media handles. #socialmediasurveillance #Privacy #Surveillance #DataPrivacyhttps://t.co/jQlgKZ3TNt pic.twitter.com/yyt5yHcpMr — Knight First Amendment Institute (@knightcolumbia) December 5, 2019
The documentary film groups filed the legal challenge, citing the impact the new visa rules have had on their members, which include foreign filmmakers, who use social media to talk politics and draw attention to human rights abuses.
"Because of the Registration Requirement, some of the Plaintiffs' members and partners now use social media cautiously, use it less, or no longer use it all for speech that could be construed as controversial or political," the documentary film groups say in their lawsuit. "In addition, some of Plaintiffs' members and partners who had considered applying for visas to visit or work in the United States have decided against doing so."
The documentary film groups point to how many people use "pseudonymous" or burner social media accounts so that they can speak out anonymously on controversial issues to avoid reprisal. But under the US's new visa rules, applicants technically need to supply these same social media handles or risk facing a visa denial if US immigration officers catch any inaccuracies in their online activities.
"The Registration Requirement effectively conditions their eligibility for US visas on their readiness to surrender their online anonymity," the groups go on to say. "They must also consider the risk that US officials will disclose their social media identifiers to foreign governments, reveal the identifiers inadvertently, or fail to protect the identifiers from third parties who might access them unlawfully."
The lawsuit is directed at the US State Department and the Department of Homeland of Security, both of which have yet to comment on the legal challenge. However, a State Department FAQ document says all information collected on the application is confidential and will be securely kept.
"Consular officers cannot deny visas based on applicants' race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, political views, gender, or sexual orientation. The collection of social media identifiers is consistent with this," the document adds.
The two documentary film groups will be represented in part by the Knight First Amendment Institute, which successfully won a court case to force President Trump to stop blocking critics from viewing his Twitter account.