Nikki Haley earns backlash for saying all social media users 'should be verified by their name'

Republican presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley declared that social media users should all "be verified by their name."

She suggested that such a move would eliminate Russian, Chinese, and Iranian bots and lead to increased civility because people would know that their name would be associated with their posts.

Haley said that when she takes "office, the first thing we have to do ... social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms. 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," she said, describing the issue as a "national security threat."

"Haley's proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional. It will be dead on arrival in my administration," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also seeking the GOP presidential nod, tweeted in response to Haley's comments.

"I am no lawyer but isn't this blatantly unconstitutional? Free speech includes anonymous speech," DeSantis rapid response director Christina Pushaw tweeted.

"And then people will have to keep their conservative opinions private or risk being fired. Fantastic idea Nikki Haley," Carmine Sabia tweeted.

"Is Nikki Haley aware that the Federalist Papers were written by founding fathers using pseudonyms? Nikki Haley may be one of the most war-mongering and authoritarian candidates for president in some time. She's completely unhinged. This is blatantly unconstitutional," Glenn Greenwald tweeted.

"Nikki out here auditioning for the WEF vote," Jordan Schachtel tweeted.

"She obviously hasn’t had someone try and destroy her job, family or reputation, because of her beliefs. Man is she out of touch," someone else wrote, adding the hashtag, "#neverNikki."

Haley served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during a portion of former President Donald Trump's White House tenure. She had previously served as South Carolina governor.

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