Haley walks back call for ban on unnamed social media users

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nikki Haley 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. Ron DeSantis. Both Haley and DeSantis are trying to resonate with GOP constituencies including parents worried for their children’s online safety as well as voters fearful of China’s influence 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’s a national security threat,” Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, said Tuesday on Fox News. “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.”

Saying that she fears that social media anonymity could translate into misinformation, Haley said “you’re 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 users. She appeared on the Ruthless podcast — alongside a co-host who goes by “Comfortably Smug” online.

“They need to verify every single person on their outlet, and I want it by name,” Haley said, reiterating her previous comments that such a move would weed out foreign-based bot accounts.

Tuesday night, some of Haley’s rivals had begun to critique her proposal.

“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,” DeSantis posted on social media, calling Haley’s proposed ban “dangerous and unconstitutional.”

Others in conservative social media echoed DeSantis’ notion.

“Nice try, Nikki,” posted Charlie Kirk, CEO and cofounder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, also referencing the Federalist Papers’ anonymous authors. “Anonymous speech is a core part of free speech.”