The Trump administration plans to require all foreign tourists to provide their travel documents social media history over the past five years to enter the country, according to a notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register.
The data would be “required” for new arrivals in the US, regardless of whether they enter from countries that require visas, it said the communication of Customs and Border Protection.
Citizens of the United Kingdom and Germany are among the countries from which visitors do not need a visa to visit the U.S., which could pose an additional hurdle for travelers, according to the notice. British citizens and people from other exempt countries can currently complete the “Electronic Travel Authorization System” in lieu of obtaining visas.
The Trump administration has tightened restrictions on people entering the US, and President Donald Trump ran a campaign focused on cracking down on the border and immigration.
In addition to social media history, Customs and Border Protection would add other new data collection fields, including email addresses and phone numbers used in the past five years, as well as the addresses and names of family members, the release said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The American public has 60 days to comment on the proposal, the Federal Register notice said.
The US will host FIFA World Cup events next year, which are sure to draw fans from around the world, including from Britain and other countries where visitors do not need visas.
In June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it required people seeking certain types of visas to enter the US to change their social media profiles to public.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group, called that step unprecedented and said the U.S. restriction was intended to “monitor and suppress the social media activities of foreign students.”
Last week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would extend an “online attendance assessment” to H-1B applicants and their dependents.
Since Trump returned to power in January, the State Department has also tried to revoke visas for people in the US who have protested the war in Gaza.
The Trump administration has also announced plans to crack down on various forms of legal immigration after an Afghan was named as a suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last month. The suspect has pleaded not guilty.
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