State Department Denies Visas to Misinformation Researchers

A new State Department directive orders consular officials to deny H-1B and other visas to foreign workers with backgrounds in 'fact-checking,' 'content moderation,' or 'trust and safety.' The policy classifies such work as 'censorship' of Americans, mandating reviews of applicants' LinkedIn profiles and resumes. First Amendment experts argue this conflates standard research on disinformation with suppression of speech, potentially isolating the U.S. tech sector.