Tourists from dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, could be asked to provide a five-year social media history as a condition of entering the United States, under a new proposal put forward by US officials.
The new condition would affect people from dozens of countries who are eligible to visit the United States for 90 days without a visa, as long as they have completed an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form.
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to tighten U.S. borders more generally, citing national security as a key reason.
Analysts say the new plan could represent a barrier to potential visitors or harm their digital rights.
The United States expects a large influx of foreign tourists next year as it hosts the men’s soccer World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The proposal document was submitted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which the agency is a part.
US media reported that it appeared in the Federal Register, which is the official journal of the US government. The BBC has asked DHS for comment.
It says that “the data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social networks from the last 5 years,” without elaborating on what specific information will be required.
The existing ESTA requires a comparatively limited amount of information from travelers, as well as a one-off payment of $40 (£30). It is accessible to citizens of about 40 countries (including the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan) and allows them to visit the United States multiple times over a two-year period.
In addition to collecting information from social media, the new document proposes collecting the applicant’s phone numbers and email addresses used over the past five and ten years respectively, and more information about their family members.
The text cites a Trump executive order from January, titled “Protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other threats to national and public security.”
The Trump administration has previously required foreign nationals to make their social media accounts public if they apply for student visas or H1B visas for skilled workers, which now also carry a much higher fee.
A senior State Department official said of the student visa policy: “American citizens expect their government to do everything they can to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump Administration is doing every day.”
Officers were instructed to detect those “who defend, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic violence or harassment.”
As part of the administration’s broader effort to tighten borders, officials recently said that an existing travel ban, affecting 19 countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, could soon be expanded.
That measure was announced in the wake of a shooting attack against two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC, in which an Afghan man was named as a suspect.
The new proposal on the collection of ESTA data for tourists invites public opinion for 60 days.
Sophia Cope of the digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the plan, telling the New York Times that it could “exacerbate harms to civil liberties.”
Meanwhile, immigration law firm Fragomen suggested there could be practical impacts as applicants could face longer waits for ESTA approvals.
Experts have previously suggested that travel policy changes introduced under Trump have had an impact on the US tourism industry.
Earlier this year, the World Travel and Tourism Council said the United States was the only one of 184 economies analyzed that was expected to see a decline in international visitor spending in 2025.
Other Trump administration policies also appear to affect tourism in the country, such as the boycott of travel to the United States by many Canadians as a form of protest against Trump’s tariffs.
October marked the 10th consecutive month of decline in the number of Canadian travelers to the United States. In the past, Canadians accounted for around a quarter of all international visitors to the US, spending more than $20bn (£15.1bn) a year, according to the US Travel Association.
