Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez admits Facebook was “crucial” to her political campaign, but says she’s not only quitting the platform, she’s starting a campaign against it and other social media sites.
Ocasio-Cortez, in an interview on the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery,” said social media has become a “public health risk” leading to “increased isolation, depression, anxiety, addiction, escapism.”
While she’s still using Facebook to enlist support for her Green New Deal and to raise funds, Ocasio-Cortez says she has suspended her personal account on the Website. She remains active on other social media sites, posting on Twitter Monday morning and keeping her (Facebook-owned) Instagram account open, though she hasn’t posted on that since March 31. (Ocasio-Cortez writes her own Tweets and Instagram posts.)
However, she said on the podcast, she’s trying to cut back.
“Like every once in a while, you’ll see me hop on Twitter on the weekends, but for the most part, I take consumption of content, when it comes to consumption and reading, I take the weekends off,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Ocasio-Cortez has slammed social media. In January, the Congresswoman from New York called Facebook out (along with Google and Microsoft) for its “implicit support” to climate change deniers.
Ocasio-Cortez rose to power last year, beating 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley and Republican Anthony Pappas to become the youngest person ever elected to Congress.