Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)Ocasio-Cortez Settles Twitter Blocking Case, Restoring Critic's Access but Asserting Her Right to Exclude 'Harassers'
In her statement, Ocasio-Cortez noted that she could still block other users if necessary. She has previously said she doesn't block any constituents and had blocked fewer than 20 accounts altogether.
November 04, 2019 at 05:38 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New York Law Journal
One day before she was set to testify in the Eastern District of New York, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, reached a settlement with former New York state assemblyman Dov Hikind, who sued her after he was blocked from her @AOC Twitter account.
Ocasio-Cortez apologized to Hikind and unblocked him, writing that he has a First Amendment right to express his views without being blocked. Hikind runs an organization called Americans Against Anti-Semitism.
"In retrospect, it was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish. I sincerely apologize for blocking Mr. Hikind," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement first reported by the New York Post.
Hikind's lawyer Jacob Weinstein said his client had wanted an apology and the ability to participate in open debate all along, so Ocasio-Cortez' statement satisfied what he wanted.
In her statement, Ocasio-Cortez noted that she could still block other users if necessary. She has previously said she doesn't block any constituents and had blocked fewer than 20 accounts altogether.
"Now and in the future, however, I reserve the right to block users who engage in actual harassment or exploit my personal/campaign account, @AOC, for commercial or other improper purposes," she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also has an official Twitter account, @RepAOC, but her @AOC Twitter account has about 5.5 million more followers than her congressional account.
Hikind filed his suit the same day as the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a Southern District of New York ruling that President Donald Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking people from his @realDonaldTrump account, even though he also has an official @POTUS account.
Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute filed the Trump suit on behalf of seven people blocked from his Twitter account, and the institute waded into the Ocasio-Cortez suit, too, telling Ocasio-Cortez in a letter that her blocking was unconstitutional.
Joseph Sandler of the Washington firm Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, who is representing Ocasio-Cortez, did not respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon.
The case was officially dismissed by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Frederic Block Monday afternoon.
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