Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called for an end to anonymity on social media during a television appearance on Nov. 14.
“Every person on social media should be verified by their name,” the 2024 presidential hopeful said while fielding questions from voters on Fox News’s “The Faulkner Focus,” hosted by Harris Faulkner.
“First of all, it’s a national security threat. 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 going to get some civility, when people know their name is next to what they say and they know their pastor and their family members [are] going to see it, it’s going to help our kids, and it’s going to help our country,” Ms. Haley said.
She made the comment in response to a question from a woman identified as “Stephanie R, Democratic Voter Switching to GOP.”
Citing “the anti-Semitism that we’re seeing around the world right now,” the woman asked Ms. Haley: “Is there a limit, in your opinion, to free speech? What are the limits when it threatens the safety of a group of people or incites violence against them?”
“We’re blessed because we have free speech,” Ms. Haley began before later noting that “the difference” in this case “is when you’re pushing violence.”
“That’s what this is. When you support Hamas, you’re basically saying that you support that Israel shouldn’t exist, that you support that the Jewish people shouldn’t exist.”
She argued that Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are driving misinformation on social media before arguing for an end to the unverified use of social media.
Ms. Haley’s comments came under fire from users on social media, including anonymous users of the platform X.
A user going by the name @US_Churchman argued that the candidate “disregards the historical role of anonymity in American political discourse.”
Notably, the Federalist Papers, critical documents in the framing of the U.S. Constitution, were written by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under a collective pseudonym, “Publius.”
Others had more positive things to say about her recommendation.
“I partly agree with Nikki Haley on this. Anonymous speech should definitely be allowed, but I’d love to be able to cut switch to verified, real identity, accounts sometimes,” journalist Sam Ikin wrote on X.
Anonymity online has become a hot topic and a source of debate among conservatives.
“Most anonymous troll-demons are derisive cowards,” psychiatrist Jordan Peterson wrote in response to an IM1776 article by Mark Granza defending “anons.”
Mr. Granza’s article was in response to Mr. Peterson’s criticism of Elon Musk for allowing people to post anonymously on X.
Following backlash, the Haley campaign looked to clarify what Ms. Haley meant.
“Americans have a right to free speech, including having anonymous accounts on social media,” the campaign said in a Nov. 15 statement.
“What Nikki doesn’t support is letting the Chinese and Iranians create anonymous accounts to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people. They’re doing that as we speak and it’s a national security threat. Social media companies have to do a way better job policing that. Clearly, Ron DeSantis wants to let Chinese propaganda machines run wild on social media without any restrictions.”
