AOC Warns Of Parody Twitter Account Impersonating Her After Elon Musk Interacted With It

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk after discovering a fake Twitter account impersonating her. The parody account, @AOCpress, gained significant visibility and reach, partly due to interactions with Musk himself.

Ocasio-Cortez raised concerns about false policy statements being released and is considering her team's next steps, including potential legal action. This incident has reignited the debate surrounding Twitter's verification system under Musk's leadership, which has faced criticism for being vulnerable to abuse and impersonation.

She tweeted the following message shortly after learning of the account:

“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.”

You can see her post below.

A parody Twitter account with the handle @AOCpress, labeled as "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody)," has attracted attention by impersonating the congresswoman. While the account name does include the term "parody," it is not immediately visible when viewing tweets on the timeline due to its length.

Musk's response to a tweet from the parody account, expressing admiration with "This might be the wine talking, but I've got a crush on @elonmusk," prompted a fire emoji reply from the Tesla CEO.

You can see their interaction below.

The parody account even issued a message later on calling on Musk "to permanently suspend" it from the platform though it mocked Ocasio-Cortez by claiming that someone "as important as [her] should never be allowed in a free society."

You can see the post below.

Musk was criticized following his response.

While Ocasio-Cortez has not provided specific details regarding her team's next steps, potential legal action is being considered in response to the impersonation incident.

The situation raises questions about the efficacy of Twitter's verification system, particularly under the leadership of Musk.

Critics argue that the system has been vulnerable to abuse and allows impersonators to gain credibility and spread misinformation.