In one of the most perplexing moments of the ongoing 2024 Republican presidential primary, Nikki Haley called for Chinese-style social media policies on Tuesday. The move led to a broad outcry among conservatives, who were left stunned that she felt people should be forced to give their private information to social media companies and the government in order to exercise their right to free speech.
As a primer, here's what she had to say on Fox News.
NEW - Nikki Haley: "Every person on social media should be verified by their name" because of "national security." pic.twitter.com/bPTkYGKNin
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 14, 2023
Later in the day, Haley appeared on the Ruthless Podcast and didn't just double down; she went further, saying, "I want everybody's name." Since she's speaking as a presidential candidate, I have to assume she means the government would literally have a list of social media users.
Nikki Haley on her plan to ban anonymous accounts like @comfortablysmug:
— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) November 14, 2023
“I want everybody’s name” pic.twitter.com/0DJl7Muxa8
On RedState, we don't just mindlessly attack Republicans, even those we may strongly disagree with. There are enough sites that do that, becoming shills for this wing or that wing, but rarely is something as simple as "this Republican bad, this Republican good." Having said that, Haley's comments are deeply disturbing.
Is she aware that the Federalist Papers, perhaps the most influential and important set of national documents aside from the U.S. Constitution itself, was published anonymously? Is she aware that the lead-up to the American Revolution was spawned by people meeting secretly, spreading viewpoints that could get them thrown in jail or worse if their real identities were exposed?
I'm not suggesting that every anonymous account on the internet is doing something that significant, but there are lots of people who provide value to the nation's discourse but choose to prioritize the preservation of their families and livelihoods in the process.
The world is only a few years removed from one of the biggest free speech crackdowns in modern history. Of course, I'm talking about COVID-19. The effort to silence and destroy those who dared to question the government's predominant narrative and policy choices was overwhelming. I don't understand how anyone could have lived through that and still believe that anonymity shouldn't be protected.
As someone who writes under a pseudonym, I'll be frank. There is nothing I can say in the political world that is worth more to me than my family. Call me selfish. Call me a coward. I really, really don't care. Someone's speech should stand on its own merits and not be quelled if they haven't "verified" their identity with a major corporation or the government.
Haley's position is not conservative. It's authoritarian and worse, it would hand the government yet another tool to censor political wrong-think. Never mind that social media companies have a long history of abusing the personal data of their users. No one should be forced to provide a copy of their license and address just to say what they think.
Given that Haley has repeated her desire for a verification requirement and a "list" twice in a single day, I can only assume she isn't mispeaking. When a Republican starts using "national security" as an excuse to infringe on liberty, voters should take that seriously. We've all seen where that leads going back to the Patriot Act and the slate of ill-advised wars that followed.
Perhaps Haley will seek to clarify, given the backlash she's received. I'm not sure what she could say to make this all go away, though. This is a big misstep for her campaign.
