The US wants to check visa applicants’ social media posts

But one administration official stated the brand new procedures ought to assist clear up confusion about how far the Department of Homeland Security might go in monitoring the social media exercise of visa candidates.

Marsha Catron, a spokesperson for the DHS told ABC News that months after Cohen left, in the fall of 2014, the Department began three pilot programs to include social media in vetting, but current officials say that it is still not a widespread policy.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is working on a plan to scrutinize social media posts of people applying for visa to enter the USA, a person familiar with the matter said.

“DHS (Department of Homeland Security) should use every tool at their disposal to do so, including checking Facebook and other social media posts in their overall review, if necessary”.

If detected earlier, this could have given USA authorities a substantial clue of Malik’s probable danger before she got into the United States via a K-1 fiancee visa in July past year.

Officials are also revealing new details about the lake search.

Investigators are still trying to figure out the full picture of Malik and Farook’s radicalization and planning for the attack.

How Malik was secured her spousal visa, known as a K-1 visa, has come under close scrutiny.

Malik came to the United States on a fiance visa in 2014.

According to the law enforcement officials, because Malik used a pseudonym and privacy controls, her postings would not have been found even if US authorities had reviewed social media as part of her visa application process. On Monday, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul referenced the social media controversy and called for a “more robust vetting and screening of all visa applicants”. The San Bernardino shooting is the first major incident in recent years where a primary aspect of the law enforcement investigation has focused on metadata and digital data collection. Angus King, an Independent from ME, wrote a letter Tuesday to Johnson saying that while the department has the ability to investigate social media postings, it does so inconsistently.

She was also interviewed by the US consulate in Pakistan, and the New York Times reported that she was interviewed by a USA immigration officer in the United States before being granted a permanent resident’s green card.

I think most Americans would say these posts should be screened to let neither of these groups in when considering vetting those applying for visas and refugee status.

Facebook and Twitter users can make their pages private and aliases are routinely employed.

According to one of the federal officials, the Facebook messages are considered to be Malik’s private correspondence to a small group of her friends in Pakistan and that they were the only ones to receive them. Last week, Senator Burr and Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation requiring social media companies to report to law enforcement any “terrorist activity” they have become aware of.