US proposes five-year social media check for British tourists and others

British tourists heading to the United States could soon face demands for five years of social media history before they’re allowed entry, under a proposal that digital rights groups warn threatens civil liberties.

The sweeping requirement would hit visitors from about 40 countries—including the UK, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan—who can currently visit for 90 days without a visa by filling out a simple Electronic System for Travel Authorization form costing $40.

Under the new rules, travellers would hand over not just social media accounts from the past five years, but also telephone numbers used during that period and email addresses from the past decade, plus additional details about family members. The proposal doesn’t specify exactly what social media information officials would demand.

Sophia Cope of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told the New York Times the plan could “exacerbate civil liberties harms”, whilst immigration law firm Fragomen warned applicants could face significantly longer waits for ESTA approvals.

The timing couldn’t be worse for US tourism. America expects millions of foreign visitors for the 2026 men’s football World Cup, which it hosts with Canada and Mexico, and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Yet the country is already the only economy among 184 analysed by the World Travel & Tourism Council expected to see international visitor spending fall this year.

President Donald Trump has tightened US borders since returning to the White House in January, repeatedly citing national security. The administration has already forced foreign nationals applying for student visas or H1B work permits to make their social media accounts public, whilst hiking fees for skilled worker visas.

Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security filed the latest proposal, which US media reported appeared in the Federal Register. The document cites a Trump executive order from January titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats”.

A senior state department official defended the approach, saying it reflects “an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump Administration is doing every single day.”

Officers screen for those “who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic harassment or violence”, according to official instructions.

The administration recently indicated it may expand an existing travel ban covering 19 countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. That announcement followed a shooting attack on two National Guard members in Washington DC involving an Afghan suspect.

The tourism industry is already feeling the impact of Trump’s border policies. Canadians—who make up about a quarter of all international visitors and spend more than $20bn annually—have boycotted US travel to protest tariffs. October marked the 10th straight month of declining Canadian visitor numbers, according to the US Travel Association.

The proposal remains open for public comment for 60 days.

(Source: BBC)