Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) accused new Twitter CEO Elon Musk of trying to sell “freedom of speech”.
AOC, 33, isn’t shy when it comes to speaking out about the SpaceX founder, and on Tuesday night she called Musk, 51, over a suggestion that users be charged $8 a month for a verification tick.
‘Lmao at a billionaire who’s seriously trying to sell people the idea that “free speech” is actually $8/[month] subscription plan,” she wrote.
Musk, valued at $223 billion, announced earlier Tuesday that Twitter’s current “Lords and Peasants” system is “bulls**t.”
‘Power to the people! Blue for $8/[month].’
As part of his proposed plan, when it’s unclear when it will come into effect, verified users will be given “priority on replies, mentions, and searches…the ability to post long videos and audios, and half as many ads.”
He also said publishers willing to work with Twitter will be given a “paywall bypass” and social media stars will be given a secondary column like politicians. Content creators are also rewarded with a revenue stream.
“You get what you pay for,” the father of eight tweeted on Wednesday. He also celebrated “being attacked simultaneously from the right and left” and called it a “good sign”.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 33, called out Elon Musk, 51, for “selling people the idea that ‘freedom of speech’ is actually an $8 prize.”[month] subscription plan’
Musk, whose worth is estimated at $223 billion, announced earlier Tuesday that the current “Lords-and-Peasants” scheme on Twitter is “bulls**t.”
The Tesla CEO has received a lot of backlash over his proposal, including author Stephen King and actress Kathy Burke.
The world’s richest man had previously considered a $20-a-month verification fee for Blue Ticks, but appeared to lower the cost following criticism from horror author Stephen King.
Musk wants to make good on his promise to make the social media platform profitable by introducing a fee for Twitter users who want to keep their verification badge.
On Wednesday, the new Twitter CEO celebrated being “attacked simultaneously from right and left,” saying, “You get what you pay for.”
However, his plan of reportedly charging $20 a month seemed to displease King, who tweeted, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? Screw it, they should pay me,” wrote King, who has 6.9 million followers. “If that’s rolled out, I’ll be gone like Enron.”
Musk replied: “We’ve got to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.
“How about $8?” he asked what price he had settled on.
King isn’t the only Twitter user with blue ticks to threaten to drop his tick if charges are brought against the platform.
Actress, author and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay, tweeting, “Musk can walk away with his idea of charging blue tickers. I give everything for this hell site for FREE.
“Naughty b**** should pay ME,” she added. ‘Don’t need the poxy thing anyway.’
Celebrities who have threatened to boycott the site include TV screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, actress Mia Farrow and Madam Secretary star Téa Leoni, She Hulk actress Jameela Jamil, and authors and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind.
George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, also said he would consider walking towards the digital door.
Musk detailed his plan on the platform, suggesting that those who pay “get priority on replies, mentions, and searches…the ability to post long videos and audios and half as many ads.”
Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis released a poll Monday asking people if they would pay $5, $10, $15 a month, or nothing, for verification. Around 81 percent said they would not pay on Tuesday.
“Interesting,” Musk replied to the poll.
Often bestowed on celebrities, politicians, business leaders and journalists, critics have derided the sign as an elite status symbol.
But Twitter also uses the blue tick to verify activists and people who suddenly find themselves in the news, as well as little-known journalists at small publications around the world, as an additional tool to curb misinformation stemming from accounts that themselves pass off as people.
Musk appears to have taken Monday’s criticism to heart when he decided to lower the proposed Blue Mark cost following his trip to Klum’s premier Halloween party.
Author Stephen King said he would quit Twitter if Musk brought in a $20 monthly fee so he could keep his blue check
Author Stephen King, who wrote The Shining, said he will exit the platform if Musk introduces a blue tick verification fee
English actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she would not pay if there was a fee for the platform
She told Musk he could walk away with his idea and that he should “pay ME.”
The world’s richest man arrived at the party in a red samurai suit as reports surfaced that he was preparing to cut nearly 2,000 Twitter jobs, which make up about 25 percent of his workforce.
Musk looked triumphant as he posed on the red carpet in his armor, with his street clothes still visible underneath. It’s not clear how Musk was supposed to be dressed for Klum’s celebration
According to the website of high-end Abracadabra NYC costume store, Musk’s outfit is the Devil’s Champion leather armor set, which retails for $7,500. At the time of writing, the website states that there is only one costume left in stock.
The billionaire’s mother, Maye, was also present at the party and at Twitter’s offices on West 17th Street.
He was photographed exclusively by leaving their home en route to Twitter’s New York City headquarters this week.
Twitter restricts some content moderation tools just days before the midterms
Days after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and just ahead of the Midterms in America, the social media site has curtailed some content moderation tools.
It can affect employees’ ability to stop misinformation since they cannot manually modify or penalize accounts.
The change is Musk’s last and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making him the sole member.
Those who work in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization can’t currently change or penalize accounts that violate the platform’s rules on misleading information, offensive posts, and hate speech.
According to Bloomberg, insiders say they can only punish people who post in violation of Twitter rules to the extent of the real damage.
They added that the team is manually enforcing these posts.
The change is the last change Musk implemented, pictured at Twitter HQ, and comes after he made significant staff cuts and fired the Twitter board, making him the sole member
At Twitter, employees have dashboards called agent tools to suspend or ban accounts that have violated policies.
Policy violations can be automatically detected or reported by other Twitter users.
However, only Twitter staff can remove or suspend accounts using the dashboard.
But according to insiders, the tools have been out of service since last week.
It is claimed that this restriction was put in place when Musk took ownership of Twitter to prevent employees from requesting changes to the app.
Company sources, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed that the high level of access to the tools provided to employees has dropped from hundreds to just 15.