- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Elon Musk is setting a precedent for the 2024 election.
- She referenced him blocking dissident accounts on Twitter before Turkey’s presidential election.
- “All of it is precedent-setting and testing waters ahead of ’24,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Tuesday that how Elon Musk handles Twitter disinformation has her concerned about the 2024 election.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote a BlueSky post in which she was “wondering” when would be the right time to “leave the other place,” presumably referring to Twitter.
“I am concerned about next year’s election given Musk putting his finger on the scale in Turkey, etc. There is a line where the harm of unchecked disinfo exceeds the benefits of direct, authentic communication,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on BlueSky. “It’s really sad.”
The congressperson was referring to a move by Musk, a “free speech opportunist,” to censor dissident accounts on Twitter at the request of the country’s right-wing autocratic leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the time, Musk argued that the decision was made after Erdogan threatened to completely shut down Twitter access in the country. This way, Musk said, people would still have some access.
However, critics pointed out that Musk and Erdogan have had a business relationship since at least 2021.
Since acquiring Twitter, experts have noted that overall, there has been an increase in COVID-19 and climate change misinformation, as well as right-wing extremist viewpoints, on the platform. Musk may also be taking steps to pull Twitter out of a European disinformation agreement.
Ocasio-Cortez also slammed Musk Tuesday for promoting a parody account impersonating her and releasing “false policy statements” on her behalf.
Ocasio-Cortez argued that Musk’s actions were “test balloons” for the 2024 election.
“Right now many of these folks are sending up test balloons – Trump’s use of AI in the DeSantis video, Musk’s censorship in Turkey for the election. All of it is precedent-setting and testing waters ahead of ’24. It will get worse. Q is how to respond when gov overall won’t, or may not in time,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
Representatives for Twitter and Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
