Monday, 6 May 2024

Ocasio-Cortez Apologizes for Blocking Critic on Twitter

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand political star known for using her social media savvy to champion her progressive policies, has apologized to a former elected leader from Brooklyn who sued her for blocking him on Twitter.

“I have reconsidered my decision to block Dov Hikind from my Twitter account,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement released on Monday. “Mr. Hikind has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them.”

The apology was made as part of a settlement agreement in the lawsuit, which was filed by Mr. Hikind in July after a federal appeals panel ruled that President Trump, one of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s frequent detractors, had violated the Constitution when he blocked people from following him on Twitter after they criticized him.

The three-judge panel ruled that because Mr. Trump used his Twitter account to conduct government business, he could not bar some Americans from reading his posts or interacting with them.

Like Mr. Trump, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has used her Twitter account, @AOC, to promote her policy agenda, communicate her positions on issues and engage with the public. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has 5.7 million followers on that Twitter account, as well as 4 million followers on Instagram, where she is also active.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez also has an official congressional account, @RepAOC, that has fewer than 200,000 followers and that she uses less frequently.

Mr. Hikind, a former assemblyman from Brooklyn who founded a nonprofit group that works to fight anti-Semitism, had engaged repeatedly with Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s posts, frequently criticizing her.

He said that he was blocked after he repeatedly assailed her over remarks she made comparing migrant detention centers at the Texas-Mexico border to concentration camps.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Hikind said that by denying him access to her posts on Twitter, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez had violated his First Amendment rights to free speech.

In her apology, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said that blocking Mr. Hikind “was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish.”

The apology was made public just one day before Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was scheduled to testify in Brooklyn federal court in the case.

Mr. Hikind’s lawyer, Jacob Z. Weinstein, said that Mr. Hikind had only sought to take part in public discussions being held on Twitter, and that he was pleased with the statement.

“It worked out very nicely,” Mr. Weinstein said.

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