AOC and Elon Musk’s Twitter feud continues as her Twitter account ‘conveniently’ stopped working

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s dispute with new Twitter CEO Elon Musk continued today when she claimed her account ‘conveniently’ stopped working after she called him out over plans to charge $8-a-month for a blue tick.

Musk, 51, had previously hit back at critics of the proposal, which could begin to be implemented as soon as Monday, saying that the current ‘lords and peasants system’ in place at Twitter was ‘bulls**t.’

The blue check mark is used by the platform to show when a user has been verified as authentic. There are around 400,000 verified users on Twitter, covering anyone from celebrities, journalists, brands and politicians – including AOC and Musk.

And the representative called out Musk again this morning – questioning his grand plans for free speech when her own account was seemingly ‘bricked’ after she spoke out yesterday. 

She wrote today: ‘Yo Elon Musk while I have your attention, why should people pay $8 just for their app to get bricked when they say something you don’t like? 

‘This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday. What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me.’

AOC, 33, yesterday called out Musk’s new plan for verification on the app, writing?: ‘One guy’s business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8.

‘Remember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications.’

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (left) dispute with new Twitter CEO Elon Musk (right) continued overnight when she claimed her account ‘conveniently’ stopped working after she called him out over plans to charge $8-a-month for a blue tick

‘One guy’s business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8,’ AOC wrote in a tweet (pictured). ‘Remember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications.’

Her Tweet came after Musk hit back at her criticisms, pointing to a sweatshirt on AOC’s campaign website that costs $58, in an attempt to defend the touted fee.

‘Proud of this and always will be,’ AOC quickly hit back at the tweet.

‘My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting.’

She added in a second post: ‘Not to mention all proceeds go to community organising like our Homework Helpers program which gives private tutoring to kids who’ve needed learning support since COVID: Check out our shop!’ she added.

Shortly after, she claimed that her Twitter account had stopped working properly.

‘Also my twitter mentions/notifications conveniently aren’t working tonight, so I was informed via text that I seem to have gotten under a certain billionaire’s skin,’ she wrote. ‘Just a reminder that money will never but your way out of insecurity, folks.’

Others hit back at Musk by posting pictures of Tesla apparel, including sweatshirts, being sold for even more than AOC’s, while pointing out that the Congresswoman sells the clothes as a way to raise funds for her political campaigning.

Earlier, AOC had criticised Musk for heralding his purchase of Twitter as a victory for free speech – before announcing the $8 charge.

‘Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually an $8/[month] subscription plan,’ she wrote. 

It was to this that the billionaire responded with the picture of the sweater.

Musk hit back at AOC’s criticisms, pointing to a sweatshirt on AOC’s campaign website that costs $58, in an attempt to defend the touted fee (pictured)

‘Proud of this and always will be,’ AOC quickly hit back at the tweet. ‘My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting.’

Musk, who’s estimated to be worth $223billion, announced earlier on Tuesday that the current ‘lords and peasants system’ in place at Twitter was ‘bulls**t.’

‘Power to the people! Blue for $8/[month],’ he wrote. 

As part of his proposed plan, verified users will get ‘priority in replies, mention, and searches… ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads.’

He also said that publishers who are ‘willing to work’ with Twitter will get a ‘paywall bypass’ and social media stars will also be getting a secondary heading like politicians. Content creators will also get rewarded through a revenue stream. 

‘You get what you pay for,’ the father-of-eight tweeted Wednesday. He also celebrated ‘being attacked by both the right and left simultaneously,’ calling it a ‘good sign’ for his proposed changes.

Musk originally suggested $20 a month for verification but appeared to lower the cost after an exchange earlier this week with horror writer Stephen King, where he offered him a discount.

The billionaire is looking to make good on his promise to make the social media platform turn a profit by introducing a charge for Twitter users wanting to keep their verification badge.

However, there are roughly 400,000 verified users on Twitter. Should all users currently with a blue tick decide to pay the $8-a-month fee, Twitter would rake in $3.2 million per month, and $38.4 million each year – which is unlikely to cover the costs incurred from Musk’s $44 billion acquisition.

The ‘badges’ could go live as soon as Monday, Bloomberg reported, with current blue check holders receiving a ‘grace period’ of multiple months before being forced to either pay or lose the badge, which is as a verification mark for high-profile users.

Musk’s touted move has been criticised by some, who say key users of the platform create the content that gives it value. Others have said previous attempts by companies to monetise something previously free have seldom been successful.

 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 33, called out Elon Musk, 51, for ‘selling people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually an $8/[month] subscription plan’

Musk, who’s estimated to be worth $223billion, announced earlier on Tuesday that the current ‘lords and peasants system’ in place at Twitter was ‘bulls**t’

On Wednesday, the new Twitter CEO celebrated being ‘attacked by both the right and left simultaneously’ and said ‘you get what you pay for’ 

The Tesla CEO has received plenty of backlash on his proposal from other corners, including author Stephen King and actress Kathy Burke.

His plan to reportedly charge $20-a-month, however, appeared to sit poorly with King, who tweeted: ‘$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,’ wrote King, who has 6.9million followers. 

‘If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron,’ he said.

Musk replied: ‘We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?’ he asked, which is the price he’s settled on.

King isn’t the only blue-tick Twitter user to threaten to abandon their checkmark if a charge is introduced to the platform.

Actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay, tweeting: ‘Musk can f*** off with his idea of charging blue-tickers. I give my all to this hell site for FREE.

‘Cheeky b**** should be paying ME,’ she added. ‘Don’t need the poxy thing anyway.’

Celebrities who have threatened to boycott the site include TV screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, actor Mia Farrow, as well as Madam Secretary star Téa Leoni, She Hulk actor Jameela Jamil, as well as, authors and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind.

George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, also said he would consider heading for the digital door.

Musk detailed his plan on the platform, proposing those who pay will get ‘priority in replies, mention, and searches…ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads’ 

Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis posted a poll on Monday asking people if they would pay $5, $10 or $15 a month, or nothing for verification. Around 81 percent said they wouldn’t pay, as of Tuesday.

‘Interesting,’ said Musk in response to the poll.

Critics have derided the mark, often granted to celebrities, politicians, business leaders and journalists, as an elite status symbol.

But Twitter also uses the blue check mark to verify activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the globe, as an extra tool to curb misinformation coming from accounts that are impersonating people.

Musk appears to have taken Monday’s criticism from the public to heart as he opted to lower the proposed blue mark cost following his outing to Klum’s premier Halloween party.

 Author Stephen King said he will leave Twitter if Musk brings in a $20-a-month charge for him to keep his blue check

Author Stephen King, who wrote The Shining, said he will leave the platform if Musk introduces a blue-tick verification charge

English actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay if a charge is introduced tot he platform

She told Musk he can f**k off with his idea and that he should be ‘paying ME’ 

Meanwhile, Musk’s is expected to cut half of all Twitter jobs on Friday.

He wavered throughout his attempt to buy Twitter on how many positions he would eliminate, originally saying as many as 75 percent of the company’s 7,500 workers (5,625) would be cut, before some reports suggested it would actually be 25 percent (which would amount to 1,875).

The 3,700 cuts now being touted would amount to about half the staff, and would see them follow out five high-level executives who have resigned in the past week. 

Twitter limits some content moderation tools just days before the midterms 

Days after Elon Musk took over Twitter and just before the midterms in America, the social media site has limited some content moderation tools.

It may hamper staff’s ability to stop misinformation, as they will not be able to manually change or punish accounts.

The change is the latest implemented by Musk and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making himself the sole member.

Those working in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization are currently unable to alter or punish accounts breaking the platform’s rules on misleading information, offensive posts and hate speech.

According to insiders on the matter, they can only penalize people making posts that violate Twitter rules to the extent of real-world harm, according to Bloomberg.

They added that the team were manually enforcing those posts.

The change is the latest implemented by Musk, pictured at Twitter HQ, and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making himself the sole member

At Twitter, staff have dashboards, called agent tools, in order to ban or suspend accounts that have breached policy.

Policy breaches can be detected automatically or flagged by other Twitter users.

However, only Twitter employees can remove or suspend accounts by using the dashboard.

But the tools have been out of use since last week, according to insiders.

It is alleged that this restriction has been put in place as Twitter transitions to Musk ownership in a bid to stop changes to the app being asked for by employees.

Sources at the company who asked to remain anonymous revealed that the high level of access to the tools given to employees has dropped from in the hundreds to just 15.