Your social media accounts may stop you visiting the USA

Holidaying in the United States of America is set to become more difficult, with US authorities set to require tourists to grant access to the past five years of their social media history for scrutiny.

This includes an individual’s Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts at least, and will be to comply with an Executive Order signed by US President Donald Trump upon his return to office in January this year.

The directive was posted overnight by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), two government agencies responsible for controlling immigration, including short-term tourism to the US. The US Government is currently seeking comment from the public on the proposal as part of the normal legislative process.

Citizens of 42 countries, including Australia, who apply for the US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa-waiver program, would be obligated to provide their social media accounts at the time of applying for entry.

Currently, providing this information is voluntary, and it’s unclear whether it would apply to somebody who has deactivated their social media profiles prior to applying. It is also unclear precisely what US authorities would be looking for – whether that includes links or references to specific criminal activity or whether simple criticism or negative posts involving Trump would disqualify a person from entering the US.

Further information required as part of the ESTA application will also require applicants to disclose all phone numbers they have used in the past five years, email addresses used in the past decade, IP data and metadata from electronically submitted photos and the names of family members including parents, spouse, siblings and children.

This information about family members would even include disclosing their dates and places of birth, where they have lived and phone numbers used in the past five years.

Obtaining an ESTA visa-waiver allows a person to enter the United States for the purposes of tourism for up to 90 days and can be secured online for US$40 (AU$60).

“CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application. The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last [five] years,” the notice on the US Federal Register states.

Disclosing a person’s social media accounts would be in addition to existing security information required to enter, including biometric data which is already collected at the US border.

Tourism to the US has been in steep decline since the return to office of Donald Trump, with travellers recognising the onerous difficulty of entering the US and showing an unwillingness to submit themselves to potential rejection at the US border by holidaying elsewhere. This decline has seen revenues of major travel brands such as Flight Centre and Helloworld fall by up to 11% in the past year, with only brief and fleeting glimpses of recovery over the same period.

Globally, international estimates show the US tourism industry stands to fall by more than 20%, with the sector to face losses of nearly US$30 billion.