The DHS said that it would
be taking a closer look at the social media posts of visa applicants following
the attack in San Bernardino, California last December in which 14 people were
killed.
US may screen foreign
traveller’s Facebook and Twitter accounts to know what you are saying, USA
Today reports.
The US government’s new
proposal to curb terrorism involves snooping around social media accounts of
foreign travellers. The new proposal to ask visitors and non-citizens for their
“social media identifier” could help border agents “investigate” your
background without having to go to the NSA, Customs and Border Protection,
which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), believes having
this “identifier” could help it find “possible nefarious activity and
connections.”
According to the Federal
Register, if the plan is approved following a public consultation process that
ends on August 22, those traveling under either the Electronic System for
Travel Authorization (ESTA) or visa waiver programs under Form I-94W would have
the option of answering, “Please enter information associated with your online
presence – Provider/Platform – Social media identifier,”
The social media
information would be gathered in addition to the numerous database checks,
fingerprinting, and face-to-interviews that already take place.
How it would be processed
is not revealed in the proposal and providing the information would be
voluntary.
The DHS says that having
access to social media details “will enhance the existing investigative
process” and provide “an additional tool set which analysts and investigators
may use to better anaylsis and investigate
An examination of the
social media profiles of the killers who carried out that massacre provided a
good deal of evidence for the investigation, although not enough to identify a
motive which remains unclear.
Other changes to the visa
waiver program, adopted by the US House of Representatives last December,
require that travellers who have visited a particular list of countries in the
previous five years, including Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, and Libya, be
subjected to increase scrutinized.
“Collecting social media
data will enhance the existing investigative process and provide DHS greater
clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity,” the proposal said.
Twitter, Facebook and other
social media services have been criticized for allowing terrorists to spread
their message and influence others on their platforms. The family of a victim
of the Paris terrorist attacks in November sued Facebook, Google and Twitter,
claiming the companies allowed the Islamic State to spread propaganda to
attract and train new recruits and celebrate attacks.
Source: USA Today Reports
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