Haley calls to verify social media users by name for 'national security'

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday called for an effective end to anonymity online, asserting that social media users ought to be required to use their real names so as to eliminate bots and bolster national security.

"When I get into office, the first thing we have to do: social media accounts, social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms," she said. "Let us see why they're pushing what they're pushing."

"The second thing is every person on social media should be verified by their name. That's – first of all, it's a national security threat," she continued. "When you do that, all of a sudden, people have to stand by what they say, and it gets rid of the Russian bots, the Iranian bots, and the Chinese bots. And then you're gonna get some civility, when people know their name is next to what they say and they know their pastor and their family members are gonna see it. It's gonna help our kids and it's gonna help our country."

Haley's plan drew scorn from her political rivals, with fellow GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy highlighting the long political tradition of writing under a pseudonym.

"Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under pseudonym. Here’s what they would say to [Nikki Haley] if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England," he said. 

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis subsequently made the same reference, insisting that the trio "were not 'national security threats,' nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional right to voice their opinions without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for."

"Haley's proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional," he continued. 

"If [Haley] wants to swear an oath to the Constitution, she should consider actually reading it," Ramaswamy quipped. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.