Nigeria, Dec. 5 -- The US government will now be rejecting H-1B visa applications from people who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation, and online safety areas; areas considered essential in an era of disinformation and misinformation online.

Reuters reported on Thursday that an internal memo from the US State Department to US missions globally ordered consular officers to consider rejecting applicants who have done anything relating to the "censorship" of free speech in the US.

This includes people who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation, compliance, and online safety, or areas relating to misinformation and disinformation.

The 2 December memo also ordered consular officers to examine the LinkedIn profiles and...