US to require visitors to share five years of social media history

The United States is proposing that foreign visitors provide five years of social media activity as part of the entry process.

This would include travelers from countries like Australia, Germany, Japan, and the UK, who currently enter visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Social media checks are also being expanded for other visas. In December 2025, the US State Department required H-1B visa applicants and their dependents to make profiles public, while earlier in June, it began reviewing student visa applicants’ social media activity.

According to a notice posted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will make social media history a mandatory component of the VWP screening process.

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The proposal allows for a 60-day public comment period and would apply to travelers from roughly 40 countries who can stay in the US for up to 90 days without a visa, pre-screened through the electronic ESTA system.

Additionally, the US government also plans a comprehensive review of visas issued to nationals of affected countries who entered the US on or after the start of President Joe Biden’s term in 2021, according to a memo from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The DHS said the measure is part of a broader set of entry restrictions initiated under the current Trump government. It comes after a recent announcement of a planned travel ban affecting around 30 countries, prompted by the fatal shooting of two National Guard members in Washington DC.

According to the FBI, the suspect, an Afghan national, who previously worked with US forces and the CIA in Afghanistan, entered the United States in 2021.

Following the incident, US President Donald Trump and his allies have criticised the erstwhile Biden government for allowing the individual into the country, calling for stricter migration limits.

Trump said in a social media post that he would move to “permanently” pause migration from all "Third-World" countries.

Meanwhile, the US tourism sector is facing a sharp decline in recent years. Data from May indicated the country is expected to lose US$12.5 billion in travel revenue in 2025, with total visitor spending projected to fall below US$169 billion by year-end.

The number of foreign tourists is also expected to drop to 67.9 million visits, down from 72.4 million in 2024, the first decline in roughly five years.

A May 2025 study conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council and Oxford Economics observed that the United States is the only one of 184 global economies projected to experience a decline in tourism revenue this year.



With additional files from Bloomberg

MA

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