Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday proposed forcing social media users to verify their identities before posting, citing “national security” concerns.
The former South Carolina governor’s plan is part of a set of social media reforms aimed at transparency — which he pushed back on during an appearance on Fox News — that have put some of his main opponents on the line.
“When I come into office, the first thing we have to do, the social media accounts, the social media companies, they have to show America their algorithm,” Haley said. “Let’s see why they reject what they reject.”
“The second thing is, everyone on social media should be verified, with their name. That, first of all, it is a national security threat. When you do that, all of a sudden, people have to stick to what they say. And it got rid of the Russian bots, the Iranian bots and the Chinese bots. And then you get some modesty when people know their name is next to what they’re saying, and they know their pastor and their family members are going to see it,” added the 51-year-old former Trump administration official.
Haley argued that anonymous social media accounts had been weaponized by the governments of China, Iran and Russia.
Two of Haley’s main GOP opponents – entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – blasted her proposal.
“[Haley] is *openly* pushing for the government to use private technology companies to censor speech. This is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and straight out of the Democrat playbook,” Ramaswamy said in post X. “Any politician who thinks it’s okay for the government to use the private sector as a censorship bureau should not be allowed anywhere near the White House. “
“Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under pseudonyms. This is what they will say to [Haley] if they are alive: take your heels off my neck & go back to England,” he said in a separate post.
In his critique, DeSantis also called upon the authors of the Federalist Papers, who famously wrote under the collective pseudonym “Publius” to promote ratification of the Constitution.
“You know who the nameless writer was back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,” DeSantis wrote in X. “They were not ‘threats to national security,’ nor were many conservative Americans across the country exercising their Constitutional rights to voice their opinions. without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for.”
Haley also called on social media companies to “show America their algorithms.” Getty Images
“Haley’s proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional. It will die when it comes to my administration,” he added.
Haley’s campaign told The Post that the former UN ambassador’s suggestion was “common sense.”
“We all know that America’s enemies use anonymous bots to spread anti-American lies and sow chaos and division within our borders. Nikki believes social media companies need to do a better job of verifying users so we can crack down on Chinese, Iranian and Russian bots. That makes sense,” Haley’s campaign said in a statement.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
