Nikki Haley Tries To Defend Her Suggestion To Unmask Anonymous Accounts

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley tried to defend her suggestion that social media companies should dox anonymous accounts while on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

Haley suggested Tuesday on Fox News that social media companies should be banned from allowing users to create anonymous accounts. The presidential hopeful claimed it would help control “bots” from United States adversaries.

“Is the history of the First Amendment include the ability for anonymity? Because heads exploded this week when you said that people online, you get rid of the algorithms that maintain anonymity?” host Joe Kernen asked.

“Social media has become a national security issue. So, when you look at it, first of all, I think social media companies need to show us their algorithms, be transparent to the American people, how do you do what you do and show it to us. The second thing is, what I know, what anyone in intelligence and we knew this at the United Nations and they have known for a while, Russia, Iran and China, North Korea too, know that the cheapest form of warfare is to spread misinformation,” Haley said. (RELATED: Court Rules In Favor Of Politician Accused Of ‘Hate Speech’ For Tweeting Bible Verse)

“Look at what happened with Israel. You want to know where all this pro-Hamas information is coming from? it is coming from foreign actors that are sewing chaos and division. I want freedom of speech for Americans. I don’t want freedom of speech for Russia and Hamas and that’s what’s happening right now the way you fix that is we need our social media companies to verify everybody so that we can get all of those —”

“So you’re not really saying that people can’t tweet anonymously– but that’s bad enough because you see what it is doing to our kids and bullying and everything else,” Kernen said.

“Do I think life would be more civil if we were able to do that yes. It is the same reason why I think doxxing, like, you know, you should stand by what you say. But, no, like, you can have anonymous — I don’t mind anonymous American people having free speech. What I don’t like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech.”

Haley was then asked how her conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping would go if she were to have that discussion, with Haley immediately shifting attention to Chinese military bases and intellectual property disputes.

Fellow Republican rivals Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis took to Twitter to express opposition to Haley’s suggestion.

“Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under pseudonym. Here’s what they would say to @NikkiHaley if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England,” Ramaswamy tweeted.

DeSantis made a similar point and argued conservatives tend to post anonymously because they fear cancel culture or retribution from their workplaces.

A spokesperson for the Haley campaign said in a statement to the Daily Caller that the presidential hopeful “doesn’t support letting the Chinese and Iranians create anonymous accounts to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people.”

“They’re doing that as we speak and it’s a national security threat,” the statement, which cited a U.S. State Department report finding China has spent millions to manipulate information and sponsoring online influencers, continued. “Social media companies have to do a way better job policing that.”