US Proposes Vetting Social Media Accounts of Travelers From 42 Countries

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Wednesday proposed that travelers from 42 countries would have to share 5 years of social media activity to enter the country.

The Details: The CBP proposal, if approved, would require foreign tourists utilizing the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to disclose the past five years of social media activity, and would also be asked to provide their telephone numbers used in the last 5 years, email addresses used in the last 10 years, in addition to IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos. The announcement cites compliance with Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats) as the reason for these changes. Some of the countries that could be impacted include Britain, Australia, France, and Japan.

For Context: This is not the first time social media screening has been implemented. In June the Trump administration announced that student visa applicants would be required to undergo tightened social media vetting to study in the US. The Trump administration also reportedly increased vetting for H-1B visa applicants, stipulating that those involved in the censorship of free speech should be considered for rejection. Since the two National Guard members were shot in Washington DC by an Afghan national, the Trump administration has paused immigration applications from 19 countries while also re-examining over 720,000 green card holders.  

How The Media Covered It: Outlets on the left, like Mother Jones (Left bias), were more likely to frame the developments as a "barrier to entry into the country," saying it "risks stifling potential tourism." Both Mother Jones and the New York Times (Lean Left) cited a critic of the proposal, who said the mandatory social media disclosure and surveillance would "exacerbate civil liberties harms." Conversely, outlets on the right like the New York Post (Lean Right) and Fox News (Right) didn't mention these concerns, but rather gave more details on the executive order cited by the CBP. The New York Post did allude to other potential complications of the policy, saying it's set to take effect "months before thousands of foreigners are expected to travel to the US to attend World Cup soccer matches."   

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