Trump faces pressure to drop social media proposal affecting millions of foreign tourists

Plans to oblige visitors to the United States to disclose any social media accounts held over the last five years have been criticised by US lawmakers due to privacy concerns and the proposals’ impact on the country’s travel and tourism sector.

The proposed shift in US policy would apply to citizens of 42 nations when they visit the US under visa waiver rules, bringing them in line with applicants for immigrant and non-immigrant visas who are already subject to similar social media disclosure rules, introduced in 2019.

The change would mean that visa-waiver applicants must reveal their social media handles during completion of their Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form. All email addresses used over the last 10 years, plus the names, dates, and places of birth, and addresses of the visitors’ spouses, children, parents, and siblings would also be required information.

In addition, anyone applying to go to the US under H-1B rules (for non-immigrant workers going to the States to perform specialty occupations) would need to make their social media accessible to anyone by turning the privacy settings to “public.”

Travel and tourism industry representatives have already expressed fears that the change in regulations could further chill demand in the US sector, which has seen a prolonged downturn in visitor numbers, with tourists from large source markets such as Canada choosing to stay away from the US in the wake of controversial border tightening and foreign policy statements from President Trump.

Now, two Democratic senators, Ed Markey and Ron Wyden, said the US Customs and Border Protection policy would deter would-be visitors and represent an unreasonable expectation that would not be acceptable to American citizens going abroad. Markey is the senator for Massachusetts, where Canadian visitors usually make up around 25% of the market, and Wyden represents Oregon, where Canadians form around half of foreign visitors, followed by Mexico.

Visitors to our country should not face a digital shakedown. @RonWyden and I are calling on CBP to reverse its invasive proposal to collect five years of social media history from travelers from trusted partner nations. pic.twitter.com/IY1HgcwHda

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) February 13, 2026

“By requiring travelers to disclose their personal social media information, CBP will force people who simply want to visit family in the United States, conduct business with U.S. companies, or attend events such as the upcoming World Cup to submit to sweeping digital surveillance,” the senators said, adding: “No doubt many Americans would be outraged if countries such as Great Britain, France, or Australia imposed a similar policy on American tourists.”

The US Travel Association warned in 2025 that just a 10% decline in Canadian visitors could result in two million fewer visits, wiping an estimated $2.1 billion (€1.8 billion euros) to $5.7 billion (€4.8 billion) from US visitor spending figures, and costing up to 14,000 jobs. Commenting on the proposed social media rules, the association has said: “If we get this policy wrong, millions of travelers could take their business and the billions of dollars they spend elsewhere, only making America weaker.”