Radical Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has taken to Twitter to express her outrage at a parody account that’s “going viral.”
Ocasio-Cortez accused CEO Elon Musk of “boosting visibility” of the “fake account” that posts hilarious AOC-like posts to mock the congresswoman.
AOC claims that Musk has increased the account’s “visibility” because he’s “engaged it.”
“FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral,” she wrote.
“The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility.
“It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread,” she added.
“I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.”
FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility.
It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread.
I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 30, 2023
However, the parody account AOC is referencing has been a big hit because it satirically mimics some of the things she says with great comedic effect.
The “AOCpress” account is clearly labeled “parody” in accordance with the Twitter terms of service.
The parody account has 248k followers while the account for Ocasio-Cortez has more than 13.4 million followers.
There’s very little chance that anyone could mistake the parody one for AOC’s real account.
The account even made light of the congresswoman’s tweet complaining about it.
“I can’t believe someone would do that to us,” the parody responded.
https://twitter.com/AOCpress/status/1663602866899017728
“After brainstorming with my staff – I’m going to push Congress to make it illegal to joke, laugh, or make fun of me,” the parody tweeted later.
“Parody should be illegal,” the parody account added.
https://twitter.com/AOCpress/status/1663610690140098560
On Monday, Musk responded to a joke from the parody account with a “fire emoji” which triggered outrage from AOC.
🔥
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2023
AOC’s complaints mirrored predictions from critics that parody accounts would cause chaos on Twitter after Musk changed the policies on verification marks for official Twitter accounts.
Among those who lashed out at Musk over the new policies was leftist actress Alyssa Milano.
“So by revoking my blue check mark because I wouldn’t pay some arbitrary fee, someone can just be me and say a bunch of bulls***,” Milano tweeted angrily at the time.
“Does that mean Twitter and @elonmusk are liable for defamation or identity theft or fraud?”
Milano was swiftly fact-checked and her claims were flagged as false.
