The Trump administration wants to require visa-exempt foreign visitors to provide a five-year history of their social media activities, according to a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register, the US official journal.
This proposal concerns nationals of countries benefiting from the visa waiver program, in particular Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Israel, Japan and South Korea. As Canada does not benefit from this program, Canadian travelers are not affected by this new measure.
The text will be applied within 60 days unless challenged in court, specifies the notice.
Currently, nationals of 42 countries can travel to the United States for 90 days without a visa, provided they first obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ESTA).
The opinion suggests adding social media as a “mandatory data element” for a residence permit application.
In addition to social media history, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would add other new data collection fields. In particular, telephone numbers used in the last five years and email addresses used in the last ten.
They would also require ESTA applicants to provide information about their family members — including names, telephone number, date of birth, place of birth and residential address.
The proposal comes as the United States is scheduled to host, along with Canada and Mexico, the FIFA World Cup in 2026, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world.
Last month, the Trump administration significantly increased the price of entry to national parks for foreign tourists, in order to give “priority to Americans”.
The American tourism sector has already been suffering for several months from a decline in foreign travelers, cooled by the policies of the Republican president.
The US Travel Association predicts a 6.3% drop in foreign tourist arrivals in 2025 compared to 2024.
With Duty
