单选题   Para. 1 Nearly all applicants for a visa to enter the United States—an estimated 14.7 million people a year—will be asked to submit their social media user names for the past five years, under proposed rules that the State Department issued on Friday.
    Para. 2 ①Last September, the American administration announced that applicants for immigrant visas would be asked for social media data, a plan that would affect 710,000 people or so a year. ②The new proposal would vastly expand that order to cover some 14 million people each year who apply for nonimmigrant visas.
    Para. 3 ①The proposal covers 20 social media platforms. ②Most of them are based in the United States, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. ③But several are based overseas, such as two Russian social networks, and a question-and-answer platform based in Latvia.
    Para. 4 The new proposal would add a tangible new requirement for millions of people who apply to visit the United States for business or pleasure, including citizens of such countries as Brazil, India and Mexico.
    Para. 5 ①Citizens of roughly 40 countries to which the United States ordinarily grants visa-free travel will not be affected by the requirement. ②Those countries include major allies like Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
    Para. 6 In addition, visitors traveling on diplomatic and official visas will mostly be exempted.
    Para. 7 As news of the plan emerged on Friday, so did criticism.
    Para. 8 ①'This attempt to collect a massive amount of information on the social media activity of millions of visa applicants is yet another ineffective and deeply problematic administration plan,' said Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project. ②'It will infringe on the rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens by chilling freedom of speech and association, particularly because people will now have to wonder if what they say online will be misconstrued or misunderstood by a government official.'
    Para. 9 Anil Kalhan, an associate professor of law at Drexel University who works on immigration and international human rights, wrote on Twitter, 'This is unnecessarily intrusive and beyond ridiculous.'
    Para. 10 Facebook said its position had not changed since last year, when it said: 'We oppose any efforts to force travelers at the border to turn over their private account information, including passwords.'
    Para. 11 Along with the social media information, visa applicants will be asked for past passport numbers, phone numbers and email addresses; for records of international travel; whether they have been deported or removed, or violated immigration law, in the past; and whether relatives have been involved in terrorist activities.
    Para. 12 ①'Maintaining robust screening standards for visa applicants is a dynamic practice that must adapt to emerging threats,' the State Department said in a statement. ②'We already request limited contact information, travel history, family member information, and previous addresses from all visa applicants. ③Collecting this additional information from visa applicants will strengthen our process for vetting these applicants and confirming their identity.'
    Para. 13 ①The new State Department requirements will not take effect immediately. ②The proposal set off a 60-day period for public comment, which ends on May 29.