UK travellers warned over huge country’s plans to scrutinise tourists’ social media | World | News
British tourists may be among international visitors subject to strict social media screening before being granted entry to the US. The order proposed by Customs and Border Protection (CPB) could require all foreign tourists, including those who do not need a visa, to provide social media activity from the past five years. Anyone who wants to enter Donald Trump’s America will be “mandated” to hand over information as well as details such as email addresses, phone numbers and family contact information.
This follows reports that international travelers were turned away at the US border because of content found on mobile phones, and that a French scientist was denied entry in March because of messages that “reflected hatred towards Trump and could be described as terrorism”. Brits can currently visit the US without a visa for up to 90 days but must obtain an electronic travel permit, known as an ESTA, for $40 (£30) which includes disclosure of email address, home address, phone number and emergency contact details.
The CPB also proposed the ESTA to include a selfie and biometrics such as face, fingerprint DNA and iris recognition.
The proposal, which will be subject to a 90-day consultation process, follows the announcement in June of new measures ordering tourists to make their social media accounts public.
President Trump’s latest crackdown on US entry, largely focused on immigration and border control, could come before citizens from around the world flock to the country for the World Cup and Olympics to be held in the Americas in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
Mr Trump also imposed a travel ban on immigration applications from 19 countries deemed “high risk” earlier this month, following the alleged shooting of two national guardsmen by an Afghan national in Washington DC.
The ban applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial New Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, with limited access for citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The US leader has also launched a violent campaign against immigration on his own soil; He sought to strip undocumented immigrants of citizenship, the birthright of anyone born in America, and oversaw a series of controversial raids by federal agents that led to the detention and deportation of hundreds of thousands of people.
