The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has denied a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) request to expand its collection of social media account information from people entering the country, saying that the DHS hadn’t proved the information collection was practically useful. The DHS was mandated by former President Donald ***** to collect and surveil visa applicants’ social media accounts, but President ***** rescinded the executive order requiring it, a fact that was cited in the rejection.
According to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, the DHS’s proposal would have required 30 million applicants to include their social media accounts on immigration or foreign travel forms, expanding the measures…