US Plan Requiring Social Media for Entry Visa Criticized

Civil society organizations Monday joined tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to denounce a proposal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to require foreign visitors to list their social media accounts.

"This program would invade individual privacy and imperil freedom of expression ... (and) lead to a significant expansion of intelligence activity,” the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the New America Foundation said in a joint statement on Monday.

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The DHS is currently considering the measure, which was proposed in June, that would compel travelers seeking visa waiver entry into the U.S. to list their social media profiles. The plan would add the following section to a visa application form: ”Please enter information associated with your online presence—Provider/Platform—Social media identifier."

In its letter, civil society groups criticized the proposed method of vetting due to fear that discrimination “will fall hardest on Arab and Muslim communities, whose usernames, posts, contacts, and social networks will be exposed to intense scrutiny.”

Meanwhile, in a seperate initiative, the public interest group Access Now delivered 2,300 signatures as part of a petition opposing the DHS proposal, which also described the potential negative consequences of the initiative.

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“The choice to hand over this information is technically voluntary. But the process to enter the U.S. is confusing, and it’s likely that most visitors will fill out the card completely rather than risk additional questions from intimidating, uniformed officers — the same officers who will decide which of your jokes are funny and which ones make you a security risk,” said Nathan White, Senior Legislative Manager at Access Now.

Meanwhile, in a letter obtained by Politico, issued by the Internet Association, which is comprised of major Silicon Valley tech companies including Google, Facebook, and Twitter, similar concerns were expressed pointing out that the government proposal would have “a chilling effect on use of social media networks, online sharing and, ultimately, free speech online.”

If approved, the DHS proposal would impact applicants of the I-94 and I-94W forms and the online portal, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization.