Barry Andrews MEP has called US President Donald Trump’s plan to screen visitors to the US based on their past five-year social media history “outrageous”.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) application.

The data element will require applicants to provide their social media from the last five years.

The CBP will also add several “high value data fields” to the ESTA application, when “feasible”. This is in addition to the information already collected in the ESTA application.

The high value data fields include:

Telephone numbers used in the last five years;
Email addresses used in the last 10 years;
IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos;
Family member names (parents, spouse, siblings, children);
Family number telephone numbers used in the last five years;
Family member dates of birth;
Family member places of birth;
Family member residencies;
Biometrics-face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris;
Business telephone numbers used in the last five years;
Business email addresses used in the last 10 years.

Andrews said: “Even the worst authoritarian states in the world do not have such an official policy.

“If enacted, this will have serious consequences for Irish businesses seeking to invest in the US and vice-versa for the IDA seeking American foreign direct investment into Ireland.

“US companies directly employ 245,000 people in Ireland, as the gateway to Europe for US companies. That relationship over decades relies on the free travel of businesspeople between the two countries.

“The plans would of course seriously damage the US tourist industry as millions of Europeans would no longer feel safe traveling to on an American holiday, including football fans due to attend next year’s World Cup.

“The criteria, as cited on the US Federal Register, are so wide-ranging that tourist or business visitors could be stopped based simply on LinkedIn, Instagram or TikTok posts critical of America.

“The EU must make clear to President Trump that these plans are unworkable and cannot be enacted.”