The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Is Now Collecting Social Media Information From Immigrants
Starting October 18, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is now requiring social media information from immigrants, permanent residents and naturalized citizens.
Continuing its wanton attack on immigrant populations under the woeful leadership of Donald Trump, U.S. Department Homeland Security (DHS) will now require all immigrants entering the U.S. to share their social media information.
Beginning October 18, the department will collect information such as 'social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results" from immigrants as well as permanent residents and naturalized citizens, reports The Verge.
RELATED
-
Today in Africa — December 31, 2025: Junta Leader Wins Guinea Vote, Anthony Joshua Crash Probe Deepens, South Africa Reports 41 Initiation Deaths
OkayAfrica has scoured the Internet for today’s major news stories, so you don't have to. On Dec 31, coverage includes Guinea’s coup leader, Mamady Doumbouya, being declared the winner of the presidential vote, an ongoing investigation into the fatal Nigeria crash that killed two members of Anthony Joshua’s team, South Africa reporting dozens of deaths linked to traditional initiation circumcisions, and more.
The new policy comes as an amendment to the Privacy Act of 1974 which addressed immigration record keeping. The new act will also include the gathering of "publicly available information obtained from the internet, public records, public institutions, interviewees, commercial data providers and information obtained and disclosed pursuant to information sharing agreements."
Engadget reports that the policy will effect nearly 43 million foreign-born people in the U.S., which means that you or someone you know will be cyber-stalked, scrutinized and potentially silenced by the American government solely based on your place of birth. If it sounds like discrimination to you, it's because it is.
These are the types of policies which become normalized under our current sham of a government.
This social media crackdown on immigrants, which is being called the "Modified Priacy Act System of Records," comes into effect following Trump's removal of DACA last month. An Obama-era policy which helped protect the legal status of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
