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US to screen social media of tourists in latest crackdown
The Independent
|December 11, 2025
Football fans heading for the 2026 World Cup, as well as other British travellers planning visits to the US, will soon have to provide details of their social media activity going back five years.
The demand is included in a new document from the Department of Homeland Security setting out how it plans to comply with Donald Trump's demand that foreign visitors should be “vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible”.
At present, the application form for the electronic system for travel authorisation (Esta) invites prospective visitors to reveal their social media accounts, but this is not mandatory. The permit costs $40 (£30) and allows stays of up to 90 days within two years. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have the option to inspect phones belonging to arriving travellers.
According to reports, some tourists have been turned away for making unfavourable comments about Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance. Soon an applicant's social media activity could be screened in advance, with officials deciding whether or not to issue an Esta to the traveller.
This story is from the December 11, 2025 edition of The Independent.
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