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
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)
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.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Private Equity Giant KKR Refiles SDNY Countersuit in DOJ Premerger Filing Row
3 minute read
Skadden and Steptoe, Defending Amex GBT, Blasts Biden DOJ's Antitrust Lawsuit Over Merger Proposal
4 minute read
Trending Stories
- 1Lawyers' Phones Are Ringing: What Should Employers Do If ICE Raids Their Business?
- 2Freshfields Hires Ex-SEC Corporate Finance Director in Silicon Valley
- 3Meet the SEC's New Interim General Counsel
- 4Will Madrid Become the Next Arbitration Hub?
- 5‘Ripe for SCOTUS’: Ruling Creates Circuit Split on NLRB’s Expanded Monetary Remedies
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
