Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and GOP Presidential candidate, stated on Tuesday that she was in favor of making social media accounts subject to name verification.
Haley clashed with businessman and fellow Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over social media multiple times, including a testy exchange during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate after Ramaswamy mentioned that Haley’s daughter used TikTok.
Several popular Twitter accounts, including Catturd and LibsofTikTok are or had been anonymous.
Read: Rep. Gaetz Of Florida Files Ethics Complaint Against McCarthy For ‘Sucker Punch’ Of Burchett
“Antisemitism was always bubbling underneath the surface but now we’re seeing this massive exaggeration of it, but no one is talking about why,” Haley said during a voter forum on “The Faulkner Focus.” “The truth is, if you look at social media, the misinformation and the dramatic sides of social media are instigating this. It is being pushed by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.”
“When I get into office, the first thing we have to do, social media companies have to show America their algorithms, let us see why they’re pushing what they’re pushing,” Haley added. “The second thing, every person on social media should be verified by their name. First of all, that’s a national security threat. When you do that, 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.”
Read: Florida Gov. DeSantis To Seek More Money For Emergency Fund
Haley’s proposal drew pushback on X.
“We can supposedly shut down Iranian bot farms … while also eliminating social media as a tool for opposing repressive regimes worldwide,” Greg Conley posted on the social media site.
“That would be unconstitutional,” Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, replied.
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Signup for our free newsletter.
We can’t do this without your help; visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps