Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Border Patrol's Social Media Proposal Comes Under Fire

A controversial federal proposal, currently up for public debate, asking people visiting the country under the visa waiver program for their social media handles has been criticized by civil liberties advocates as going too far and by counterterrorism experts and lawmakers as not going far enough.

The proposal, submitted to the Federal Register by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agency last month would add a social media section on visa applications for those visiting the country under the visa waiver program to "optionally" disclose social media profiles on all platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. The proposal will be up for public comment for the next 30 days.

The social media proposal is the latest example of the government's scramble to find new ways to stay one step ahead of terrorist plots in the wake of December's deadly San Bernardino shooting massacre. The Department of Homeland Security came under heat to increase security provisions when vetting visa applicants after it was learned that one of the shooters, Tafsheen Malik, was admitted to the U.S via a fiancĂ© visa program. 

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