Rights advocates raised the alarm, including over free speech concerns, on Thursday after it was reported that the U.S. State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke the visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Palestinian Hamas militants. The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protects freedom of speech and assembly. Free speech advocates like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and pro-Palestinian groups said AI should not be relied upon for assessments related to the decades-old and nuance-filled Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

WASHINGTON — The State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Palestinian Hamas militants, Axios reported on Thursday, citing senior State Department officials. Fox News separately reported the State Department revoked the visa of a student who allegedly participated in what the department termed as "Hamas-supporting disruptions." The revocation marked the first such action, according to the report.

The State Department is reportedly embarking on an artificial intelligence-powered initiative to spot foreigners in the US who are sympathetic to Hamas or other terror organizations and revoke their visas. Using AI tools, officials intend to pore through the social media accounts of foreign student visas and assess whether there’s evidence of sympathies toward Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, Axios reported. That effort, dubbed “Catch and Revoke,” will reportedly encompass a review of news articles to spot names of foreign nationals who engaged in...