What is happening?
US authorities are planning to ask visitors for details of their social media accounts covering the past five years as part of the review for entry. That includes countries currently covered by the ESTA visa waiver programme, such as Germany, the UK and Ireland.
The change has raised concerns among those in the travel industry, who have already been hit by plans to levy a $250 visa integrity fee on some travellers, and digital rights groups concerned about the impact on civil liberties.
While the US authorities have used social media accounts in the course of deciding whether to admit travellers in the past, that usually centred on criminal activity rather than the discretion and policy of the administration on certain speech.
[ US plans to start checking tourists’ social media over last five yearsOpens in new window ]
It is likely to affect the number of people travelling to the US, as some would-be travellers decide against handing over personal data or having to scrub social media profiles, and others face longer waits for authorisation to travel due to the increased
RM Block
What should I do before applying?
Compile a list of your social media accounts, from the most used to the ones you have almost forgotten about. Your email can often throw up some dormant accounts that should be deleted in the name of good digital hygiene.
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Then it is time to start looking at your posting history and interactions on the various platforms. That means your own updates, your comments on others’ content, and interactions with people.
Settle in; this could take a while.
What should I look out for?
The US previously said it would screen applications for those “who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic harassment or violence”. However, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred as to what would fall under this criteria.
Posts supporting designated terrorist organisations would probably raise a few eyebrows, as would inappropriate jokes or replies taken out of context.
I’ve found some stuff. What now?
It depends on what you want to do. You can do nothing and take your chances, or change your travel plans to avoid the US for now. But if you are applying for a visa, or an ESTA, and you want to maximise your chances of making it over the border, you might have to do a little online cleaning.
Delete inappropriate posts, or archive them to remove them from public view.
Aside from your own posts check out comments that you have made on various social media platforms for the past few years, and also remove tags and photos that could jeopardise your travel plans.
Don’t forget to check through any accounts you follow to see what content they are posting, and how that could be construed by immigration authorities. And last, but by no means least, check your likes in case there is any content in there that could fall under the very broad definition of what the US authorities find objectionable.
Are there any tools to help?
There are some third party services that can help clean up your social media history. TweetDelete, for example, will mass delete your old posts on Twitter/X, while Redact will cover about 30 different online platforms. They require subscriptions, but if you have five years to sift through and you are a prolific poster, it might be worth the investment.
Carry out a full audit of your online presence
Today it is an ESTA application, tomorrow it could be an employment opportunity. If your views have moved on, your social media footprint should too. Plus even if you aren’t very controversial online, it limits the amount of data out there that can be harvested by unscrupulous individuals.
Deactivate old accounts
Now is a good time to clear out the digital junk, and if it takes some content with it that you would rather not have follow you around, then so be it.
Don’t ignore it
Considering claiming on your visa application you have no social media presence at all? That will only work if it is true. Otherwise, expect to attract a bit more scrutiny, and that may not end well.
Don’t deliberately leave out information
We may all have a few social media profiles that are unused and forgotten. But gaining entry to the US usually comes with the proviso that all the information provided on your application is true; deliberately omitting information may see you fall foul of immigration authorities and turned away at the border.
