US demands social media use information for visa applications. (Eric Baradat/AFP)

United States to Visa Applicants: Your Social Media Details, Please!

People who plan to travel to the US soon will need to provide their social media details as the State Department regulations say. Most visa applicants, including temporary visitors and people traveling to the US to work or to study, are required to submit social media names as well as five years’ worth of phone numbers and email addresses under the newly adopted immigration rules. In addition, applicants will also volunteer to include their account details on any sites not listed.

However, certain diplomatic and official applicants are excluded from the stringent new measures.

The implementation of the new policy is remarked to be Donald Trump’s effort to protect the US soil from the entry of foreign terrorists to the country. His administration proposed the rules for the first time in March 2018 and an estimated 14.7 million people would be affected annually.

State Department reportedly said that it is constantly working to find the most effective mechanism to improve the screening processes in order to protect US citizens while supporting legitimate travel to the country.

Previously, the additional vetting was only required for people who had been travel to countries that controlled by terrorist groups.

As reported by BBC, an official who spoke to The Hill stated that anyone who lies about their social media use could face serious immigration consequences.

In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the idea of these immigration regulations as social media monitoring has no evidence to be effective and fair, and would only cause people to self-censor themselves online.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48486672