The Trump administration plans to begin requiring tourists from more than 40 countries to hand over their phones and social media history to U.S. customs officers for screening before being admitted into the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security agency U.S. Customs and Border Protection filed a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday that it will consider the speech of citizens from Visa Waiver Program countries, primarily European nations, when deciding whether to allow tourists into the U.S.
The move, looking over all social media activity made by foreigners, comes two weeks after an Afghan national was arrested as the primary suspect behind a shooting that left one National Guard member serving in Washington dead and another seriously injured.
CBP officials stated in the notice that the decision follows through on President Donald Trump’s January Executive Order 14161, which outlined steps to protect the U.S. from foreign terrorists and threats to national security and public safety.
In this particular case, CBP will add social media as a “mandatory data element” for visitors with an Electronic System for Travel Authorization application, which is used for visitors from 42 countries under the Visa Waiver Program.
CBP plans to screen applicants’ past five years of social media use before deciding whether to admit or deny admission to a visitor. The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal.
Visa waiver countries are those whose citizens are perceived to present less of a risk than citizens of other countries. As a result, citizens are not required to obtain a visa through the U.S. government before attempting to travel to the U.S. for a period of under 90 days.
France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom all fall under the Visa Waiver Program. Other countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas before traveling to the U.S. include Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
The decision to review comments made on social media comes as the Trump administration has criticized European countries for limiting free speech in recent months.
The European Union recently fined X owner Elon Musk $140 million for digital transparency and content management violations. Musk denounced the fine and said the EU was attempting to interfere with “freedom of speech.”
Asked about the incident on Monday, Trump said that “Europe has to be very careful.”
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“They’re doing a lot of things,” Trump said. “We want to keep Europe, Europe. Europe is going in some bad directions. It’s very bad, very bad for the people. We don’t want Europe to change so much.”
This latest move comes days after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called on Trump to impose a travel ban against 30 countries, which would affect countries not under the Visa Waiver Program.
