Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, and actor Mark Ruffalo are among those who have taken to Twitter to criticize Elon Musk’s potential plan to charge users $8 a month for identity verification and what it means for freedom of speech. expression.
On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez accused Musk from messing with her Twitter account after criticizing the plan, asking, “Why would people pay $8 just for their app to be bricked if they say something you don’t like?” She also shared a screenshot of her Twitter notifications under the “verified” tab that appeared empty.
“This is what my app has looked like since my tweet upset you yesterday,” she wrote. ‘What is good? Doesn’t seem very free to me.’
Actor Mark Ruffalo retweeted AOC’s post, asking Musk to “get off Twitter”.
“Hand over the keys to someone who does this as a real job, and go on to run Tesla and SpaceX,” he wrote. “You destroy your credibility. It just doesn’t look right.’
“Hot take: Not everything AOC says is 100 percent accurate,” Musk responded.
The actor also retweeted Tweet from AOC last week in which she criticized the $8-a-month subscription, saying it’s bad for advertising.
“Because we’re Twitter’s products, those blue checks make advertisers feel more comfortable putting their brands next to those verified accounts,” he says. wrote Friday. “Without those verified accounts, bye bye ad purchases. This thing doesn’t run without ads.”
After criticizing the subscription plan on Friday, Ruffalo tagged Musk in a retweet minutes later from an article on the climate crisis asking him to focus on “what really matters.”
“As the richest man in the world and owner of this platform, use your power and privilege to tackle this REAL threat,” he wrote. “I remember this was of the utmost importance to you. Elon, come back to your original purpose.’
“This is not the time for pettiness, but for greatness. Use your gifts and this platform for good information, not misinformation and cruelty,” the actor says. tweeted.
Eli M. Rosenberg contributed.