Some tourists may need to provide five year social-media history for US entry

In a new proposal unveiled on Wednesday, the US government said that travellers from certain countries could be asked to provide their social media history of the past five years in order to be allowed into the country.

Tourists who need to fill out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form to visit the US could be asked to provide up to five years of their social media history. Citizens from over 40 countries currently need to apply for an ESTA form to be able to enter the US without a visa for a maximum time period of 90 days. This includes travellers from most European countries, but also Chile, Brunei or New Zealand.

The proposal has for now not been implemented.

It remains unclear how exactly it would work, and experts fear that it could lead to longer delays to obtain ESTA forms as well as plunge tourism numbers.

Tourism to the United States has already been decreasing for several months, most notably from Canada, as many Canadian travellers chose to boycott the US in response to Trump's tariffs.

US president Donald Trump denied that the plan would threaten the tourism industry in the United States, saying that "we're doing so well" and that "we want to make sure we're not letting the wrong people come enter our country."