The United States government has unveiled a sweeping proposal that would require travellers entering the country under the Visa Waiver Programme to submit a five-year record of their social media activity as part of mandatory security screening.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the plan on Wednesday, outlining major changes to the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA).
Under existing rules, applicants may voluntarily disclose their social media accounts; however, the draft regulation seeks to make such disclosure compulsory.
“The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last five years,” DHS said in a notice ahead of its formal publication in the Federal Register.
Beyond social media history, the proposal demands additional digital and biometric information from travellers, including:
Email addresses used in the past 10 years
Phone numbers used in the previous five years
IP address history
Metadata attached to uploaded photographs
Expanded family details
Broader biometric identifiers, including facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scans and DNA samples
US Customs and Border Protection explained that the enhanced requirements are designed to strengthen identity verification, curb fraudulent entries, and detect potential security threats.
The proposal also includes a phaseout of the current ESTA web portal, shifting the system to a mobile-only application platform.
If approved, the new measures would apply to nationals of the 40 countries participating in the Visa Waiver Programme, which processes over 14 million applications each year.
DHS said the changes form part of efforts to execute Executive Order 14161, signed in January 2025, which mandates deeper screening to identify foreign security risks.
The announcement follows previous incidents in which social media activity influenced entry decisions.
In one widely reported case, a French scientist was denied entry in March after US border officials reviewed posts on his phone interpreted as sympathetic to terrorism.
Civil liberties groups have raised concerns over privacy, surveillance, and the potential chilling effect on free expression.
DHS, however, maintains that the proposals are intended to bolster border security and align immigration procedures with updated federal data standards.
Public comments on the proposal will be accepted for 60 days following its official publication.