US travel, what changes with social control in the last five years

What is new for 2025 is that the same logic is being extended to those who, until now, could travel with more streamlined procedures and without going through a consular interview. Axios, Bloomberg and other newspapers point out that the target are citizens of the Visa Waiver Program countries, i.e. those forty or so states whose entries are considered low-risk and who can enter for up to 90 days for tourism or business with a simple electronic authorisation. These include Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Japan, South Korea and other historical partners of Washington. For all of them, the Esta becomes the central moment of control even on digital content, an advance filter on opinions, contacts and social networks in addition to the checks already in place on passport, background and reasons for travel.

The CBP proposal explicitly refers to an executive order signed by Donald Trump last January, entitled "Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats". The text calls on the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen the 'vetting' of foreign visitors to the maximum extent possible, including through the use of digital tools and new categories of data. Already in 2017, with Executive Order 13780, the White House had asked the relevant agencies to introduce uniform and more stringent vetting standards, including questions aimed at uncovering fraudulent responses or malicious intent. The extension of the obligation to declare socials to VWP travellers is therefore in continuity with this line, but broadens its scope, also involving people who previously could rely on quicker and less invasive procedures.

In the language of the US authorities,you are not asked to hand over passwords or authorise direct access to accounts, but to declare all the 'identifiers' used in the period indicated: username, handle or other names under which you have presented yourself on the listed platforms. According to the State Department's FAQ, visa applicants must indicate all identifiers used in the previous five years on each platform on the list; those who have never used social can select 'none', but failure to indicate accounts actually used may be considered a false declaration, with possible consequences on the issuance or validity of the visa. The same logic would be transferred to Esta, pushing tourists to provide a complete list of their profiles, without the possibility of omitting alternative identities or pseudonyms that have had public activity.

Italy has been part of the Visa Waiver Program since 1989, and Italian citizens travelling for tourism or business for up to 90 days normally use Esta instead of applying for a B1/B2 visa. According to information provided by DHS and the US Embassy in Italy, to obtain the Esta today one needs a suitable passport, biographical data, some travel information, answers to security questions, and payment of a fee of USD 40; the authorisation is generally valid for two years, unless revoked. If the CBP proposal is approved in its current form, Italian citizens will have to add to this set of information the list of their social accounts from the past five years, as well as previous phone numbers, historical email addresses and additional data on family members. For those who travel frequently to the US, especially for short-term work or study, this will mean filling out longer forms and regularly updating a very detailed personal digital picture.

In the dossier attached to the Federal Register, CBP estimates an increase in the time needed to complete the Esta: a study cited by Business Travel News calculates thatfilling out could take about 22 minutes per application, considering the retrospective collection of phone numbers, addresses and social identities. Tourism industry associations, such as the U.S. Travel Association, have already reported a drop in international arrivals in recent years and attribute part of the decline to tightening entry rules and lengthening visa and authorisation procedures. The new package of Esta requirements would add to this context, at a time when the United States is trying to prepare for major international events - from the World Cup to the celebration of 250 years of Independence - that assume a boom in visitors from abroad.So far, however, the government has not released official estimates on the effect that social scrutiny could have on travel volumes.

From the perspective of digital rights organisations, the requirement to hand over five years of social history raises sensitive issues of freedom of expression and association. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (Eff), which has been contesting the systematic collection of social identifiers for visas since 2019, argues that the knowledge that they are being monitored by the US government prompts many potential visitors to self-censor, limiting political views, contacts and participation in online groups. In a comment quoted by Axios, the Eff fears that the extension to tourists will lead to the same pressures already seen for students and workers, especially if the informal expectation to make public profiles that are now private becomes widespread. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression also warns that subordinating a holiday or business trip to the handing over of one's entire social history risks conveying the idea of a commitment to free speech that is more formal than substantive. These are all positions that are now part of the open debate during the public consultation on the CBP proposal.

On the judicial front, the 2019 visa rule has already been the subject of litigation that has clarified some key points. In the aforementioned Doc Society v. Blinken case, a federal court in Washington, D.C., recognised that US citizens have an interest in receiving information and collaborating with foreign partners, but held thatthe chilling effect produced by social monitoring on potential visitors was not sufficient to declare the measure unconstitutional. The judge also reiterated the government's wide discretion in matters of immigration and border security, limiting the scope for the courts to intervene. It is plausible that the extension of the Visa Waiver Program to travellers will in turn be challenged, especially in relation to the First Amendment and the privacy rights of foreigners, but for now there are no specific rulings on this new segment of controls.

The strengthening of digital entry controls is not unique to the US. This year, the United Kingdom launched its own Electronic Travel Authorisation (Eta) system for visa-free travellers, while the European Union is preparing to introduce Etias, a passport-linked electronic authorisation for those entering the Schengen area from third countries. These systems involve prior registration, payment of a fee, and automated checks on data entered before departure, with the stated aim of increasing border security. The American social media proposal goes beyond simple biographical or documentary pre-screening, shifting the focus to the digital life of travellers and the clues that online content can offer the authorities. In international comparison, therefore, the depth of the collection - five years of social, ten years of e-mail, extensive biometric data - makes the US project one of the most ambitious in the use of social media as a border control tool.

From a procedural point of view, the new social obligation for Esta is now a proposal subject to federal 'notice and comment' rules. The text published in the Federal Register provides for a 60-day period during which citizens, associations, companies and foreign governments can send comments, suggestions or formal criticism to the Department of Homeland Security. At the end of the consultation period, CBP may modify parts of the draft, confirm it in its current form or, in theory, shelve it, although White House policy statements suggest a strong desire to proceed. In the meantime, the existing rules remain in place: visa applicants must already indicate their socials, while for tourists travelling with Esta the obligation will only be triggered after the final version of the rule is published, with possible technical transition periods for updating online forms and the mobile app.

As of today, those planning a trip to the United States from Italy have to deal with two distinct plans: on the one hand, the rules already in force, i.e. the obligation to indicate five years of social security if applying for a visa at the consulate; on the other hand, a proposal to extend the same constraint to those using the Esta under the Visa Waiver Program. Pending the eventual finalisation of the rule, the indications from authorities and immigration experts converge on the need to fill out forms carefully and completely, avoiding omissions and discrepancies between the information declared and one's public digital footprint. For those who travel frequently to the United States, it may be prudent to keep track of their accounts and username changes over time, so that they can declare them without uncertainty when the new system goes live.