The Trump administration is proposing to ask visitors from countries with visa-free travel to the U.S. to submit five years of their social media history before they can enter.

The Trump administration is proposing to ask visitors from several dozen nations that enjoy visa-free travel to the U.S. to submit additional personal information before entering the country, including five years of their social media history, the Department of Homeland Security said in a notice this week.

Citizens of 42 countries enrolled in the visa waiver program can generally come to the U.S. for up to 90 days for tourism or business travel, without needing to apply for a visa at an American embassy or consulate, a process that can take months or even years.

The list of countries in the visa waiver program includes many European nations like the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as well as some U.S. allies around the world, including Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

  • Furbag@lemmy.worldEnglish
    16·
    2 days ago

    “I don’t use social media.”

    You can’t prove a negative. Shift the onus back onto them. Any attempt at them trying to connect the dots should be met with “That user is not me, any similarities in their name is purely coincidental.”

    Create a bogus email not tied to any social media and they won’t have a leg to stand on.

    Not to mention how incredibly difficult that enforcing such a policy would be. Could you imagine the manpower required for people to trawl through 5 years of social media history searching for verboten political speech against Dear Leader? Wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to use AI for this, since they’d have a hard time finding enough die-hard Trump loyalists to pack into the DHS to actually perform the background checks at the rate they would need to happen…

    Better yet, just avoid coming to this rapidly declining country in the first place.