AOC says Elon Musk will cost lives by deleting blue ticks on Twitter

Congresswoman shares screenshots of exchange between Twitter users claiming to be official New York government handles

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit out at Elon Musk after Twitter began removing blue ticks and said the move could pave the way “for major potential harm”.

The New York congresswoman and Tesla chief have been involved in Twitter spats before.

This is not the first time AOC, as the congresswoman is affectionately known, has lashed out against Mr Musk on the social media platform.

When the Twitter boss had announced last year that those who want to retain their blue ticks must pay $8 to the company, Ms Ocasio-Cortez had mocked the move. “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually an $8/mo subscription plan,” she had tweeted.

On Friday, AOC shared a screenshot of an exchange between two Twitter handles – @nycgov and @NYC_GOVERNMENT – both claiming to be the official handles of the New York City government.

“Jokes aside, this is setting the stage for major potential harm when a natural disaster hits and no one knows what agencies, reporters, or outlets are real,” she said.

“Not long ago we had major flash floods. We had to mobilize trusted info fast to save lives. Today just made that harder.”

The congresswoman has also previously claimed Mr Musk had meddled with her account. Ms Ocasio-Cortez complained that following a public argument, her Twitter account had seemingly stopped working properly.

“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?” she tweeted.

Mr Musk replied back at the Democrat and said, “What can I say? It was a naked abuse of power.”

In December last year, Ms Ocasio-Cortez condemned Mr Musk after he suspended the accounts of half a dozen journalists who routinely reported on him and the social media platform.

“I get feeling unsafe, but descending into abuse of power + erratically banning journalists only increases the intensity around you,” the Democratic lawmaker said.

“As someone who has been subject to real and dangerous plots, I do get it. I didn’t have security and have experienced many scary incidents,” she said.

“In fact, many of the right-wing outlets you now elevate published photos of my home, car, etc. At a certain point you gotta disconnect. Maybe try putting down your phone,” she suggested.

“You first lol,” responded Mr Musk.

When the billionaire had laid off staff at Twitter, the Congresswoman tweeted: “Shout out to all the workers at Twitter. You all built a vital place for connection and deserved so much better. Millions of people appreciate the space you built and the hard work that went into it. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Mr Musk said he is “personally” paying for Twitter Blue subscriptions for a few celebrities who had declined to subscribe by themselves.

The Twitter chief confirmed he is paying for the accounts of William Shatner, Stephen King and LeBron James to retain their blue tick verification badges.