US Proposes 5-Year Social Media Mandate for ESTA Travelers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has proposed requiring travelers from more than 40 visa-waiver countries to submit five years of their social media history as part of applications for short-term entry to the United States. The plan, outlined in a notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register, targets visitors from nations including Ireland, Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Germany and South Korea, who currently enter under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, without needing a full visa.

Under the existing ESTA process, applicants from these countries provide basic information such as a home address, phone number, email and an emergency contact, along with a $40 fee. The authorization allows stays of up to 90 days and remains valid for two years. The new proposal would expand these requirements significantly, making social media disclosures mandatory rather than optional, as they have been since 2016. Travelers would need to list account handles used across platforms like X, Instagram and Facebook over the past five years. Additional data fields would include all personal and business phone numbers from the last five years, email addresses used in...