Travelling to the US and social media

pl4ichjgy17zwd

Planning on going to the US around the end of May. I've gone every year for the past 5 years or so. They're always short trips (≤3 days).

I know the visa waiver form asks about social media now, does that mean I need to be scrubbing it of any Trump references or deactivating profiles between applying for the VW and going?

Has anyone had any problems?

Fred Swanson

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Atlantic Dawn

Found this, it does say "select foreign travelers", not sure who that targets...

The US government has begun asking select foreign travelers to disclose their social media activities as part of an expanded effort to spot potential terrorist threats.

The request functions as a prompt on the online Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or Esta, a visa waiver application that many visitors are required to submit before travelling to the US. The choices include platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, and additional space for applicants to input their account names on those sites.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/us-customs-social-media-foreign-travelers

ED E

Theyve done it to US Citizens too. Some bureaucrat got checked the other day (EPA or similar, cant find the article).


Technically the border extends 100 miles from any land border. So you can be asked this outside the airport too in theory in anywhere youd actually want to visit.




I doubt somebody with an Irish passport and a non-muslim sounding name/aesthetic will have an issue, but if any of those might not hold true for you set up some dummy accounts

boobycharlton

That's mad, I renewed my ESTA last year and it made no mention of social media. Went to NY via Dublin few weeks back and the CBP lad asked a lot more questions then I've ever experienced before and was very rude in general. Flung my passport back at me with not even a good luck or goodbye after he stamped it. I was my usual polite self and made no stupid chit chat or anything like that. Last two times (Boston & Dublin) the CBP folks had been lovely, so was a bit of a shock like.

I put it down to either the current political climate or the lad having a bad day. Pre-clearance wasn't busy either.

Fred Swanson

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Zaph

What happens if someone genuinely doesn't have a social media account and they leave all the spaces blank? Are they automatically assumed to be lying because "everybody" has a social media presence these days?

Fred Swanson

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Riesen_Meal

I'm screwed so if they check mine...

Reading back on this thread you would be forgiven if you thought you were reading about North Korea, lol

coylemj

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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The Trump effect on inward tourism has already been noted in the US ...

The impact was immediate: Following President Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banning people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, the demand for travel to the United States took a nosedive, according to data from several travel companies and research firms.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/travel/after-travel-ban-declining-interest-trips-to-united-states.html?_r=0

Yamanoto

I filled out an ESTA for a relative earlier this month & there were certainly additional questions on workplace, employer, US contacts etc. and it had become mandatory to enter an email address, whereas previously that info had been optional.

Don't think social media info is mandatory btw - didn't fill it in & the ESTA was granted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/26/us-customs-social-media-foreign-travelers