AOC Lashes Out At Elon Musk Over Plans To Remove Twitter's Legacy Blue Checkmarks

Last Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared her dismay over Elon Musk's supposed plan to remove the legacy blue checkmarks that help verify Twitter users. 

Last week, the social media platform announced it would be winding down its legacy blue-tick verified program beginning April 1. 

"On April 1, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks," the company said. It added, however, that users would be able to keep their blue checkmarks by signing up for Twitter's paid subscription program and paying $8 monthly.

Any individual person’s Twitter account affiliated with a verified organization is automatically verified https://t.co/5j6gx6UKHm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2023

Following the announcement, Ocasio-Cortez criticized Musk over his plans to revoke the blue checkmarks.

"Last time they tried this someone pretended to be Eli Lilly and tanked their stock price by pretending insulin was free," she tweeted in reference to two accounts that had pretended to be the insulin-producing pharmaceutical firm and use Twitter's paid verification feature to get the blue tick mark. 

Last time they tried this someone pretended to be Eli Lilly and tanked their stock price by pretending insulin was free https://t.co/sKc26Km8YW

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 23, 2023

Following her tweet on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez posted another, pointing out that Twitter had curiously chosen to scale back its legacy verified program on April Fools' Day. 

And they’re rolling this out on April Fool’s day

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 23, 2023

This is not the first time the New York politician has slammed Musk over his approach to Twitter verification. Last year, she tweeted, "Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that "free speech" is actually a $8/mo subscription plan."

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