Australians could be added to the list of citizens required to disclose five years' worth of social media history in order to enter the United States. Under the plan applicants will have to submit information such as phone numbers, email addresses and personal details of family members.
00:00Australian travellers heading to the United States could soon face an inquisition into their social media history
00:08as part of a proposal for sweeping changes to immigration rules into the United States.
00:1342 countries currently with visa exemptions into the United States could be impacted by the changes,
00:19including Australia, New Zealand, the UK, France and Japan.
00:23These changes would require Australians travelling to the US to provide five years of their social media history,
00:29as well as 10 years of email addresses and additional details about family members, including children.
00:35We heard earlier today from an immigration lawyer, Melissa Vicente, who outlined what these changes mean and why they may be being brought in.
00:42Well, I think what's being targeted is, according to the administration,
00:45that we have to find those people who have anti-American thoughts that might do harm to the American people.
00:50And so it's more of a digging expedition to find out who they are.
00:55At the moment, there is a requirement for countries that don't have a visa agreement with the United States to provide social media details.
01:01So the precedent has been set. In those instances, some student visa applicants to the United States have been told to keep their social media accounts public
01:10to allow government officials to easier assess those pages.
01:14Now, we've heard from a few travellers this morning here at the Brisbane International Airport who had quite strong opinions about what these changes could mean to their travel plans.
01:23They're just trying to control everything. And I just don't think it's fair.
01:26I wouldn't go to the States. Yeah, I think it's intrusive and it's dangerous and I wouldn't go.
01:36But if it was more difficult to go there for a short stay, then yeah, I wouldn't want to go. I don't think.
01:45It remains to be seen if this proposal will be set in stone, but it's certainly another step in the long march of President Trump cracking down on immigration
01:54and tightening border security since his return to the presidency.
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