US considers mandatory social media screening for all visitors
In addition to social media handles, applicants would need to list previous email addresses, phone numbers, and identifying details of family members used or contacted over the past five years
Foreign nationals traveling to the United States, including British tourists, may soon be required to undergo mandatory social media screening as part of new entry protocols being examined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Under the proposal, all travelers, regardless of whether they need a visa, would be required to submit their social media account details covering a five-year period.
The change would affect applicants using the ESTA system, which allows visitors from certain countries to enter the U.S. for short stays without a full visa. Currently, ESTA applicants pay $40 and provide basic personal information, but no detailed digital history is required.
The draft policy, outlined this week in an entry published on the U.S. federal register, would also expand the type of data collected.
In addition to social media handles, applicants would need to list previous email addresses, phone numbers, and identifying details of family members used or contacted over the past five years.
CBP is also proposing biometric additions. Future ESTA submissions could include an uploaded selfie and collection of biometric identifiers—including fingerprints, iris scans, facial data, and potentially DNA—rather than capturing most of this only at the point of entry.
Officials say the enhanced data checks are intended to strengthen pre-arrival vetting, though privacy and free-speech questions are already being raised. Recent cases involving visitors denied entry based on material found on phones—including messages deemed threatening toward political figures—have sparked debate over whether digital screening could be used to penalize lawful expression made outside U.S. jurisdiction.
These proposals come at a time when free-speech disputes have increasingly intersected with federal enforcement decisions.
Lawsuits between government agencies and academic institutions over political expression, campus speech, and access to federal funding have intensified, heightening scrutiny over how speech-related information is used by authorities.
The measures are open for public comment for the next 60 days. If approved, they would mark one of the most extensive expansions of digital and biometric requirements for tourists entering the United States since the introduction of electronic travel authorization systems.