US demands access to tourists' social media histories
The Trump administration wants to force foreign visitors to give border agents access to their social media accounts before they are allowed into the country. The proposal applies to all visa-free travelers
President Donald Trump and his administration have put forth a new proposal that would force visa-free visitors to the US to give immigration and customs authorities access to five years of their social media activity.
The new proposal would affect people traveling to the US on a visa waiver provided by the so-called Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which requires applicants to provide personal information to US authorities and purchase the authorization for $40 (roughly €34) prior to travel.
Currently, citizens from 42 countries are able to apply for visa-free travel to the US. These include Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.
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The new proposal would make it "mandatory" for ESTA applicants to provide US authorities with access to five years of their social media activity on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X.
Visitors will also be required to provide information on what US authorities dub "high-value data fields," meaning all of their phone numbers over the past five years and all of their e-mail addresses over the past 10. Moreover, they will be forced to provide personal details on family members as well as provide their own biometric data.
The proposal was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, meaning that it will be open for public comment for 60 days, at which point it will become law unless challenged in court.
The US, which has taken a hard anti-immigrant line under President Donald Trump, said the new requirement was a necessary step toward "protecting the USA from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats."
