AOC vs. Elon Musk Twitter Conflict

Added by Philipp • Updated 22 days ago by Zach

Part of a series on Elon Musk's Twitter Acquisition. [View Related Entries]

Top Gallery Images

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC . Follow Yo @elonmusk 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 Be the first to know Notifications about new Tweets, Retweets, recommendations, and more from other verified accounts will show up here. 10:23 AM Nov 3, 2022

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC Proud of this and always will be. 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. Elon Musk @elonmusk - Nov 2 ALEXANDRIA ¡OCASIO! CORTEZ Periwinkle Supporter Crew Sweatshirt SKU AOC103-S . Made in USA $58 8:40 PM - Nov 2, 2022 Twitter for iPhone

Elon Musk @elonmusk Made in USA DC AA ALEXANDRIA iOCASIO! CORTEZ DEMOCRAT NY-14 Periwinkle Supporter Crew Sweatshirt SKU AOC103-S $58 shop.ocasiocortez.com 5:43 PM . Nov 2, 2022. Twitter for iPhone Ć :

Dinesh D'Souza @DineshDSouza Elon Musk 1, AOC O 4:47 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @A... 18h Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that "free speech" is actually a $8/mo subscription plan 45.6K t 60.5K 443K ↑ Elon Musk @elonmusk Tweet Replying to @AOC Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8 3:56 PM 11/2/22 Twitter for iPhone . 14.3K Retweets 3,718 Quote Tweets 174K Likes 27 ... 5:50 PM Nov 2, 2022 Twitter for iPhone :

James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki Great example of how weird Musk's plan to charge power users for verification is. AOC has 13.5 million followers. When she writes a tweet like this, it generates millions of impressions, creating considerable economic value for Twitter. And he wants to charge her $8 to do it! Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that "free speech" is actually a $8/mo subscription plan 11:25 PM - Nov 1, 2022. Twitter for iPhone 61.7K Retweets 9,465 Quote Tweets 536.6K Likes 27 Tweet your reply Elon Musk @elonmusk 4h Replying to @AOC Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8 t 46.5K 24.4K 9:36 PM Nov 2, 2022. Twitter Web App 459.4K +] : Reply

Michael Edison Hayden @MichaelEHayden Musk pinned his sad retort to @AOC hoping to catch up to her in engagement. The world's richest reply guy is running this website. ned et @elonmus! @AOC ack is apprecia 8:33 PM Nov 2, 2022. Twitter Web App ...

Overview • Background • Developments • Online Reactions •

Category: Event Status: submission Year: 2022 Origin: Twitter Region: United States

Type: Controversy

Tags: aoc alexandria ocasio-cortez elon musk aoc elon musk twitter meme elon musk twitter ceo controversies twitter aoc twitter elon musk tweet memes shadowbanning

Overview

AOC vs. Elon Musk Twitter Conflict refers to an online argument between New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk over the latter's proposal to introduce an $8 per month fee for the verification on the website. The argument became a viral subject of discussions and was also used in memes, with AOC later suspecting Musk of limiting the functionality of her Twitter account due to their exchange.

Background

On October 30th, 2022, Platformer^[1] reported that Elon Musk, who became the CEO of the social media website Twitter on October 28th, was mulling over charging a monthly $5 fee for the previously free verification mark as a part of Twitter Blue, Twitter's premium subscription service. Later that day, The Verge^[2] reported that Musk considered changing the cost of Twitter Blue from $4.99 to $19.99 per month.

On November 1st, Elon Musk commented on the rumors by suggesting that Twitter charges an $8 fee for Twitter Blue and the verified status.^[3]

Late on November 1st, 2022, following the announcement of the change, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the proposed $8-a-month fee on her Twitter^[4] (@AOC), which Elon Musk then replied^[5] to by saying, "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8." The reply received over 950,000 likes, 72,900 retweets and 15,600 quote retweets in roughly 24 hours (exchange shown below).

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Nov 1, 2022 @AOC . Follow Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that "free speech" is actually a $8/mo subscription plan Elon Musk @elonmusk. Follow Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8 4:56 PM Nov 2, 2022 B

Developments

The initial argument between Ocasio-Cortez and Musk in the early hours of November 2nd, 2022, went on throughout the following day as the latter tweeted^[6] a screenshot of AOC's merchandise being sold for $58, commenting with a Thinking Face Emoji, to which AOC replied with a tweet^[7] in which she argued in favor of unions (shown below).

AOC Accuses Elon Musk of Shadow Banning

On November 3rd, 2022, AOC then shared an Instagram story in which she claimed that her Twitter account wasn't functioning properly, insinuating shadow banning and that Elon Musk was directly involved. That day, Twitter^[8] user @johnrobergage reposted the video, which gained over 6 million views on Twitter in less than 24 hours (shown below).

.AOC accuses elonmusk of censoring her on twitter. pic.twitter.com/yGEAckNEK5

— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) November 3, 2022

Also on November 3rd, AOC tweeted^[10] that her Twitter app wasn't working and looked broken, insinuating it was malicious and somehow related to their Twitter argument days before (seen below).

Online Reactions

The exchange between AOC and Musk rapidly went viral and spread online after being reposted to other platforms, as well as being incorporated into memes. For example, Redditor thetrny made a political compass meme and shared it to the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes^[9] subreddit on November 2nd, where it gained over 7,500 upvotes and 1,100 comments in one day (shown below).