US proposes 5-year social media review for World Cup tourists

A new proposal from the Trump administration would require visitors to the U.S. to provide five years of social media activity for review as a condition of entry.

AI Brief

CBP proposes mandatory disclosure of five years of social media for ESTA applicants under Trump's executive order.
Rule applies to 42 visa waiver countries, including major US allies, raising privacy and tourism concerns.
Critics warn the policy could hurt the economy and restrict travel as FIFA World Cup approaches.

The news broke Thursday, six months exactly before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.

The Customs and Border Protection agency, a wing of President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security, submitted proposed changes to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) per a notice posted in the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. government.

"In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application. The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years."

It's unclear exactly how the social media reviews would occur or what specifically would cause the government to interfere with a foreigner's entry into the country.

But the rule would apply to 42 countries that participate in the "U.S. Visa Waiver Program," which includes the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.

FIFA has not commented on the matter.

"If you're going to start disallowing people from coming on vacation to the United States because their politics might be a little bit left of center, the economy is going to be hit in a bad way," Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Front Office Sports.

--Field Level Media