AOC Proposes To 'Rein In' News Media

Media watchdogs are shocked and appalled that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Congress is looking into media literacy initiatives, including a commission to help "rein in" misinformation in the wake of last week’s deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol – and one critic slammed AOC’s suggestion as "wholly un-American."

FOX News reports that during a lengthy live stream on Instagram on Tuesday night, she discussed the aftermath of the Capitol riot, how she feared for her life during the chaos and what needs to be done going forward.

At one point, Ocasio-Cortez read a question from a viewer who asked if there is discussion in Congress on "truth and reconciliation or media literacy initiatives" to help with healing.

Alexandria Ocasion-Cortez

"I can say, there is absolutely a commission being discussed but it seems to be more investigatory, in style rather than truth and reconciliation, so I think that’s an interesting concept for us to explore, and I do think that several members of Congress, in some of my discussions, have brought up media literacy because that is a part of what happened here and we’re going to have to figure out how we rein in our media environment so that you can’t just spew disinformation and misinformation," Ocasio-Cortez said.

"Fox & Friends" anchor Steve Doocy said he was "a little troubled" by Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion and enlisted The Hill media columnist Joe Concha to help figure out who would decide what media gets reined in under the progressive lawmaker’s plan.

"Let’s unpack this proposal, she wants to basically establish a Ministry of Truth, we’ve all read ‘1984’ and, you know, to determine what is truth and what is not. So who sits on this committee exactly? Eric Swalwell? Adam Schiff? Because they seem to have some challenges when it comes to telling the truth," Concha said.

"How does Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez define truth exactly? She was asked in a ["60 Minutes"] interview, this was a couple of years ago after she was fact-checked on some very dubious claims, about those particular claims and she said, ‘People want to really blow up one figure here, or a word there, I would argue they are missing the forest for the trees, I think there is a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, semantically correct than being morally right,’" Concha said.

"Oh, so it’s not about being factually correct, it’s what she sees as being right and wrong from a moral perspective," Concha continued,  He feels it’s "stunning" that Ocasio-Cortez’s statement hasn’t received more attention.