The proposal, published Tuesday in the US Federal Register, would require travellers to provide five years’ worth of social-media handles, email addresses, phone numbers, and detailed information about close family members.
By Titilope Adako
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is considering making social-media screening mandatory for all foreign travellers, including Britons, before they can enter the country.
The proposal, published Tuesday in the US Federal Register, would require travellers to provide five years’ worth of social-media handles, email addresses, phone numbers, and detailed information about close family members.
Currently, visitors from the UK and other Visa Waiver Programme countries can stay in the US for up to 90 days without a visa, requiring only a $40 (£30) Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
The new measures, however, would dramatically alter this process.
CBP says the additional screening would apply to every traveller, whether arriving on a visa or under ESTA.
Applicants may also be required to upload a selfie and submit extensive biometric data, including face scans, fingerprints, iris scans, and potentially DNA—previously limited to in-person checks at US ports of entry.
The proposed rules are open for a 60-day public consultation.
While framed as a security measure, critics note a rise in travellers being denied entry over personal device checks and online content since Donald Trump returned to office.
In one case, a French scientist was turned away after officers reportedly found messages on his phone “reflecting hatred toward Trump,” which they labelled as terrorism.
Rights groups warn that giving officers broad discretion to interpret online content as a security threat could endanger free speech.
The policy comes amid repeated free-speech controversies under the Trump administration.
In September, ABC briefly suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he criticised attempts to politicise the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.
Trump suggested that networks critical of him should face license revocation, though Kimmel’s show returned within a week following public backlash.
The administration is also locked in a legal battle with Harvard University.
The Ivy League school sued after $2.6bn (£1.9bn) in federal research funding was frozen, accusing the government of exerting “unprecedented and improper” political control over campus affairs.
Harvard claims the move was retaliation for rejecting demands from a federal antisemitism task force, including changes to protests, academics, and admissions.
A judge ruled in September that the funding freeze was unconstitutional, but the Trump administration has vowed to appeal, keeping the dispute alive.
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