Wednesday 2 November 2022 07:16 PM AOC slams Elon Musk for his $8 blue tick verification trends now

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) called out new Twitter CEO Elon Musk for trying to sell 'free speech.' 

AOC, 33, isn't shy when it comes to making her opinions known on SpaceX founder, and on Tuesday evening she called out Musk, 51, for proposing to charge users $8-a-month for a verification checkmark. 

'Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that "free speech" is actually an $8/[month] subscription plan,' she wrote. 

Musk, who's estimated to be worth $223billion, announced earlier on Tuesday that the current 'lords and peasants system' in place at Twitter was 'bulls**t.' 

'Power to the people! Blue for $8/[month].' 

As part of his proposed plan, which is unclear when it will go into effect, verified users will get 'priority in replies, mention, and searches...ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads.' 

He also said that publishers who are 'willing to work' with Twitter will get a 'paywall bypass' and social media stars will also be getting a secondary heading like politicians. Content creators will also get rewarded through a revenue stream. 

'You get what you pay for,' the father-of-eight tweeted on Wednesday. He also celebrated 'being attacked by both the right and left simultaneously,' calling it a 'good sign.' 

The Tesla CEO has received plenty of backlash on his proposal, including author Stephen King and actress Kathy Burke. 

The world's richest man previously mulled a $20-per-month blue tick verification fee, but appeared to lower the cost following criticism from horror author Stephen King. 

Musk is looking to make good on his promise to make the social media platform turn a profit by introducing a charge for Twitter users wanting to keep their verification badge.

His plan to reportedly charge $20-a-month, however, appeared to sit poorly with King, who tweeted: '$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,' wrote King, who has 6.9million followers. 'If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron.'

Musk replied: 'We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers.

'How about $8?' he asked, which is the price he's settled on.

King isn't the only blue-tick Twitter user to threaten to abandon their checkmark if a charge is introduced to the platform.

Actress, writer and comedian Kathy Burke also said she wouldn't pay, tweeting: 'Musk can f*** off with his idea of charging blue-tickers. I give my all to this hell site for FREE.

'Cheeky b**** should be paying ME,' she added. 'Don't need the poxy thing anyway.'

Celebrities who have threatened to boycott the site include TV screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, actor Mia Farrow, as well as Madam Secretary star Téa Leoni, She Hulk actor Jameela Jamil, as well as, authors and activists Shaun King and Amy Siskind.

George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek, also said he would consider heading for the digital door.