Homeland Security moves toward scrutinizing foreign tourists’ social media accounts before entry

The Department of Homeland Security is moving toward scrutinizing the recent social media histories of foreign travelers before allowing them to enter the United States. 

In a notice filed Tuesday in the Federal Register, U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote, “In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application.” 

“The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years,” it added. 

Homeland Security describes ESTA as “an automated system used to determine the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program and whether such travel poses any law enforcement or security risk.”

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The Visa Waiver Program currently allows citizens of designated countries — such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan — “to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa,” according to the DHS. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Homeland Security for further comment. The notice said the American public has 60 days to comment on the CBP proposal. 

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The White House said in the executive order referenced in the Federal Register notice that, “It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”

“To protect Americans, the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests,” read the order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.

“More importantly, the United States must identify them before their admission or entry into the United States. And the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security,” it added.