Planning a US Trip? You May Have to Hand Over 5 Years of Social Media First

10th December 2025 at 11:37 PM

2 minutes read

Foreign visitors from dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, could soon be required to submit five years of social media history as a condition for entering the United States under a new proposal by American authorities. The plan targets travellers from 42 nations that are part of the visa waiver programme, with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seeking to collect “baseline biographic data” through several “high value data fields.” In addition to social media details, applicants would have to provide phone numbers used over the past five years, email addresses from the last 10 years, and more information about family members.

According to an announcement in the US government’s Federal Register, CBP is updating the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to comply with Executive Order 14161, signed in January 2025 and titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” The notice states that social media will become a mandatory data element on ESTA forms, requiring applicants to disclose their social media from the past five years. The new requirement would apply to travellers who currently qualify to visit the US for up to 90 days without a visa.

Since returning to office in January, President Donald Trump has pursued a series of measures to tighten US border controls, repeatedly citing national security. The timing of the proposed changes coincides with expectations of a sharp rise in foreign arrivals, as the US prepares to co-host the men’s football World Cup with Canada and Mexico and to stage the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The proposal was submitted jointly by CBP and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent department, and published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the US government. The text reiterates that ESTA applicants would need to provide their social media for the previous five years but does not spell out exactly what type of social media information will be collected. At present, ESTA requires relatively limited personal data and a one-time fee of 40 dollars, allowing multiple visits over a two-year validity period.

The draft rules lean on the January executive order on foreign terrorists and public safety threats. The Trump administration has already moved in this direction in recent years, requiring many foreign nationals applying for student visas or H-1B skilled-worker visas to disclose their social media accounts. As part of a broader push to harden borders, officials have also signalled that an existing travel ban affecting 19 countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean could be widened. That potential expansion was discussed after a shooting attack in Washington, DC, in which an Afghan man was named as the suspect in the assault on two National Guard members.