Will you have to declare 5-year social media history for US tourist visa soon?

Planning to go to the United States?

The Trump administration, which is cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration, is putting up new roadblocks every day. People from dozens of countries including the UK could have to show authorities in the United States their social media history for five years.

The development comes in the backdrop of the Trump administration putting off H1-B interviews till March amid increased scrutiny of social media. This comes after the US State Department just last week announced that it would expand an “online presence review” to include H-1B applicants and their dependants.

But what do we know? How will it work?

Let’s take a closer look

What we know

The United States has published the notice on the Federal Register, the US government’s official journal.

The notice says that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “is adding social media as a mandatory data element” as part of the screening process for travellers entering the United States. This is being done under the Visa Waiver Programme.

Visitors from over 40 nations come under this programme including France, Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Brunei, Singapore, Qatar, Israel, and Chile.

Visitors under this programme can stay in the US for around three months and are pre-screened through the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) app. They are required to pay a one-time fee of $40 (approx. Rs 3,616).

Authorities have claimed this will “enhance security and ensure the integrity” of the visa process. The notice has given the public 50 days to provide their inputs before the administration moves forward.

How it would work

Those in the ESTA app, who are travelling to the US for less than 90 days under a visa, already submit information such as their passport and birth date and any past criminal record.

Anyone interested in gaining admission to the US would now have to provide the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) with telephone numbers, email addresses, biometrics including their face, fingerprint, DNA and eyes.

Visitors would have to also submit information on their families such as names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces, including that of children.
“If an applicant does not answer the question or simply does not hold a social media account, the ESTA application can still be submitted without a negative interpretation or inference,” the CBP website states.

While Indians do not come under the Visa Waiver Programme, the Trump administration has already taken steps to impose similar requirements on visas often used by Indian tourists and students.

The US Embassy in India in June announced that all visa applicants must provide to them details of their
social media usernames and handles they have used over the past five years.

The Embassy wrote on X, “Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit.”

The Embassy also warned that those found providing false information could be rejected for visas and rendered ineligible for future visas. The United States has already targeted foreign students for deportation, including those who have shown compassion and sympathy for Palestinians during Israel’s war in Gaza.

The development comes in the aftermath of a recent shooting in Washington, DC, involving an Afghan national accused of injuring two US National Guard members, one of whom later died. The Trump administration has claimed it needs to crack down on foreigners to protect the nation.

“Nothing has changed on this front for those coming to the United States,” a spokesperson for CBP said in a statement. “This is not a final rule, it is simply the first step in starting a discussion to have new policy options to keep the American people safe.”

Experts critical of the move

Free speech advocates have already criticised the Trump administration’s social media proposal.

The Telegraph quoted Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)’s Sarah McLaughlin as saying, “Those who hope to experience the wonders of the United States – from Yellowstone to Disneyland to Independence Hall – should not have to fear that self-censorship is a condition of entry.”

“Requiring temporary visitors here for a vacation or business to surrender five years of their social media to the US will send the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretence, not practice. This is not the behaviour of a country confident in its freedoms.”

Sophia Cope, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, told The New York Times the move could “exacerbate civil liberties harms”.

Farshad Owji, past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told the Washington Post the proposal could “chill travel and expression.” He said it seemed like the Trump administration wanted to use the social media evaluation to “understand the person’s view of general politics around the world.”

US set to host FIFA matches

It also comes as the US is slated to host the high-profile FIFA World Cup matches in 2026. The United States is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Millions of fans from around the world including nationals from visa-waiver countries like the UK, France and Germany, which love football, are expected to flock to America. The US is also set to host the Summer Olympics come 2028.

Trump has been targeting immigrants since he returned to the Oval Office in January 2025. Trump during his campaign had vowed to crack down on both legal and illegal immigration, particularly from Muslim and African countries.

Trump in an executive order signed on the first day back in office called on US authorities to ensure that visitors “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles”.

The guidelines also warned applicants that a lack of an online social media presence could count against them. Little wonder then that the United States under Trump is witnessing a dramatic drop in tourism with cities like Las Vegas seemingly being on life support.

Trump, though, remains unconcerned,

“No. We’re doing so well,” he said about the drop in tourist numbers. “We just want people to come over here, and safe. We want safety. We want security. We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people come and enter our country.”

With inputs from agencies