COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥� on Wednesday partially walked back her proposed requirement that social media companies ban people from posting anonymously online for national security reasons, a stance for which she drew backlash across conservative social media and some of her GOP presidential rivals.
The former United Nations ambassador's comments Tuesday to Fox News were quickly spread by the campaign of Florida Gov. . Both Haley and DeSantis are trying to resonate with GOP constituencies including parents worried for their children鈥檚 online safety as well as voters fearful of in U.S. affairs. As they try to battle for a distant second place behind former President Donald Trump, Haley and DeSantis have accused each other of being weak on China in particular.
"Every person on social media should be verified by their name. It鈥檚 a national security threat,鈥� Haley, a former 麻豆传媒AV Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, said Tuesday on Fox News. 鈥淲hen 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.鈥�
Saying that she fears that social media anonymity could translate into misinformation, Haley said 鈥測ou鈥檙e going to get some civility when people know their name is next to what they say."
Haley also said Tuesday she would demand access to social media algorithms to understand how various content ends up in front of certain users. She appeared on the Ruthless podcast 鈥� alongside a co-host who goes by 鈥淐omfortablySmug鈥� online.
鈥淭hey need to verify every single person on their outlet, and I want it by name,鈥� Haley said, reiterating her previous comments that such a move would weed out foreign-based bot accounts.
Tuesday night, some of Haley's Republican rivals had begun to critique her proposal online.
鈥淵ou know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,鈥� DeSantis posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling Haley's proposed ban "dangerous and unconstitutional.鈥�
Others in conservative social media echoed DeSantis' notion.
鈥淣ice try, Nikki,鈥� posted Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, also referencing the Federalist Papers鈥� anonymous authors. 鈥淎nonymous speech is a core part of free speech.鈥�
Conservative radio personality Dana Loesch agreed, saying Wednesday on her show that she was against Haley's argument, despite the fact that Loesch said she has experienced online harassment and even death threats.
鈥淚 am still a million percent against government regulation of stuff like this," Loesch said. 鈥淚t's not a free speech position, and it's not in keeping with the way our country was founded. ... It's a bad argument.鈥�
Entrepreneur 鈥� with whom Haley has frequently feuded in recent candidate debates, including calling him 鈥渟cum鈥� after an attack on her daughter for having used TikTok 鈥� referenced her idea as 鈥渄isgusting.鈥�
And replying to Ramaswamy was Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter. "Super messed up,鈥� Musk wrote. 鈥淪he can stop pretending to run for president now.鈥�
Under his ownership, Musk has opened up X verification checkmarks to paid users, not just those who previously were required to submit identification, in order to be considered verified. The confusion that ensued after for $44 billion last year raised concerns the platform could lose its status as a purveyor of accurate, up-to-date information from authentic sources, including in emergencies.
By Wednesday, Haley had somewhat amended her stance. Asked on CNBC if she was advocating a ban on all anonymous social media posts, Haley said that, while she believed 鈥渓ife would be more civil if we were able to do that,鈥� she was focused on foreign-based actors, not U.S. citizens.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind anonymous American people having free speech; what I don鈥檛 like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech,鈥� Haley said, not explaining how she would recommend that social media companies parse those users.
Saying DeSantis 鈥渨ants to let Chinese propaganda machines run wild on social media without any restrictions,鈥� Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas on Wednesday added that the onus should be on social media companies to better police anonymous, foreign-based accounts.
鈥淲hat Nikki doesn鈥檛 support is letting the Chinese and Iranians create anonymous accounts to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ocial media companies have to do a way better job policing that.鈥�
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at
Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
