Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) called out new Twitter CEO Elon Musk for trying to sell “free speech” — prompting Musk to reply, “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8.”
AOC, 33, isn’t shy about making her opinions known about the SpaceX founder, and on Tuesday night she called out Musk, 51, for proposing to charge users $8 a month for a verification check.
“Lmao at a billionaire sincerely trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/[month] subscription plan,” she wrote.
The contractor then gave his withering reply.
Musk, who is worth an estimated $223 billion, announced earlier Tuesday that the current “gentlemen and peasant system” in place at Twitter was “bulls**t.”
‘Power to the people! Blue for $8/[month].’
As part of his proposed plan, which is unclear when it will take effect, verified users will get “priority in replies, mentions 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 get a secondary headline as a politician. Content creators will also be rewarded through a revenue stream.
“You get what you pay for,” the father of eight tweeted on Wednesday. He also celebrated “being attacked by both the right and the left at the same time,” calling it a “good sign.”
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 is worth an estimated $223 billion, announced earlier on Tuesday that the current “gentlemen and peasant system” in place at Twitter was “bulls**t”
The Tesla CEO has received plenty of backlash for his proposal, including author Stephen King and actress Kathy Burke.
The world’s richest man previously considered a $20 per month blue tick verification fee, but appeared to drop the cost after 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 by both the right and the left at the same time” and said “you get what you pay for”
His plan to reportedly charge $20 a month, however, appeared to sit well with King, who tweeted: ‘$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** it, they should pay me,’ wrote King, who has 6.9 million followers. “If it gets set up, I’m gone like Enron.”
Musk replied: ‘We have to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.
“How about $8?” he asked, which is the price he settled on.
King is not the only blue-tick Twitter user threatening to abandon his tick if a fee is introduced on the platform.
Actress, author and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn’t pay, tweeting: “Musk can screw with his idea of charging blue tickers. I’m giving everything to this hell site for FREE.
“Sassy b**** should pay ME,” she added. “Don’t need that poxy thing anyway.”
Celebrities who have threatened to boycott the site include TV writer Shonda Rhimes, actress Mia Farrow, as well as Madam Secretary star Téa Leoni, She Hulk actor Jameela Jamil, and writers and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind.
George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, also said he would consider heading towards the digital door.
Musk outlined his plan on the platform, suggesting that those who pay will get “priority in replies, mentions 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 per month, or nothing for verification. About 81 percent said they would not pay, as of Tuesday.
“Interesting,” Musk said in response to the vote.
Critics have derided the badge, which is often given to celebrities, politicians, business executives and journalists, 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 disinformation coming from accounts purporting to be persons.
Musk appears to have taken Monday’s criticism from the public to heart when he opted to lower the proposed blue badge cost after his jaunt to Klum’s main Halloween party.
Author Stephen King said he will quit Twitter if Musk charges a $20 per month fee to keep his blue check
Author Stephen King, who wrote The Shining, said he will leave the platform if Musk faces a blue-tick verification fee
English actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she would not pay if a fee is introduced on the platform
She told Musk that he can screw with his idea and that he should “pay ME”
The world’s richest man was pictured arriving at the party in a red samurai-style suit as reports emerge that he is preparing to cut close to 2,000 Twitter jobs, representing around 25 per cent of its 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 what Musk would be wearing for Klum’s celebration
According to the website of high-end costume shop, Abracadabra NYC, Musk’s outfit is the Devil’s Champion-Leather Armor set, which retails for $7,500. At the time of writing, the website says there is only one costume left in stock.
The billionaire’s mother, Maye, was also present at the party and inside Twitter’s offices on West 17th Street.
He was pictured exclusively by DailyMail.com leaving her house this week on his way to Twitter’s New York headquarters.
Twitter is restricting 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 has limited some content moderation tools.
That can hamper staff’s ability to stop misinformation, as they won’t be able to manually amend or penalize accounts.
The change is the latest to be 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 modify or penalize accounts that violate the platform’s rules on misleading information, offensive posts and hate speech.
According to insiders on the matter, they can only punish people who make posts that violate Twitter’s rules to the extent that they harm the real world, according to Bloomberg.
They added that the team manually maintained these posts.
The change is the latest to be 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, to ban or suspend accounts that have violated policy.
Policy violations may be detected automatically or flagged by other Twitter users.
However, only Twitter employees can delete or suspend accounts using the dashboard.
But the tools have been out of service since last week, according to insiders.
This restriction is said to have been put in place as Twitter transitions to Musk ownership in an attempt to stop changes to the app requested 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 hundreds to just 15.
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