The United States is proposing a new requirement that would compel foreign visitors to submit their social media history from the past five years before being allowed to enter the country — a rule that would also apply to travelers from visa-waiver nations such as Australia, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
According to a notice from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published on Wednesday, US Customs and Border Protection plans to make social media disclosure “a mandatory data element” for travelers entering the country through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The proposed policy has been placed under a 60-day public comment period before implementation.
If approved, the requirement would cover citizens of about 40 countries who can currently visit the US for up to 90 days without a visa, provided they complete pre-travel screening through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
The move marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s tightening of immigration and entry protocols. Earlier this month, the administration announced a planned travel ban affecting approximately 30 countries, introduced after two National Guard members were fatally shot in Washington.
“We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people come into our country,” President Donald Trump said Wednesday when questioned about the new screening proposal at the White House. Federal authorities have identified the suspect in the shooting as an Afghan national who previously worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before arriving in America in 2021.
Trump and his allies have used the incident to criticize the Biden administration, arguing that its immigration policies allowed the suspect into the country. The former president has also renewed calls for stricter limits on migration. Following the shooting, Trump posted on social media that he intends to “permanently” pause migration from “all Third World Countries.”
The administration is also planning a broad review of immigration approvals. US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it will conduct a “comprehensive re-review” of all entry approvals granted to individuals from these specified nations who arrived on or after the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term in 2021.
Meanwhile, the State Department continues to expand social media scrutiny across various visa categories. In December, it announced extended review requirements for H-1B visa applicants — including skilled workers and their dependents — advising them to set all social media profiles to public visibility. A similar review was ordered earlier in June for student visa applicants.
These increasingly stringent measures come as the United States faces a notable decline in foreign tourism and spending. Data from May projected that the US is on track to lose around $12.5 billion in travel revenue in 2025, with total visitor spending expected to fall below $169 billion by year’s end.
The number of foreign tourists is also predicted to drop for the first time in about five years, falling to an estimated 67.9 million visits in 2025, down from 72.4 million in 2024, according to the US Travel Association. A May analysis by the World Travel & Tourism Council and Oxford Economics found the US to be the only country among 184 global economies expected to see a decline in tourism revenue this year.
Experts attribute this downturn to several factors: lingering post-pandemic travel hurdles, the strong US dollar making travel more expensive, and shifting global perceptions of the United States — influenced in part by the Trump administration’s “America First” rhetoric and policies.