Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law

CBP: Give Us Your Social Media

Paul Rosenzweig
Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 12:48 PM

According to the BBC, the US Customs and Border Patrol has published a Federal Register notice that would change the terms of entry for visitors to the United States arriving under the Visa Waiver Program or using the tradtional I-94 visa program.

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According to the BBC, the US Customs and Border Patrol has published a Federal Register notice that would change the terms of entry for visitors to the United States arriving under the Visa Waiver Program or using the tradtional I-94 visa program. The updated application forms would ask users to identify what social networks they use and their "social media identifier" such as a username. Revealing this information would be "optional."

The proposal apparently flows from the San Bernardino hearings, where it was thought (wrongly) that the social media accounts of the shooters might have effected their admission decision. Because the new social media inquiry will be self-reported, any self-respecting terrorist could just create a false account, claim to have no account, or simply not answer.

Just this morning I wrote about the need to modernize our interdiction efforts. I am skeptical this is a useful proposal -- it will just catch the morons.


Paul Rosenzweig is the founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, a homeland security consulting company and a Senior Advisor to The Chertoff Group. Mr. Rosenzweig formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University, a Senior Fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University, and a Board Member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.

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