By Sen. Tony Hwang
As we approach the Presidential, federal, and state elections, our political landscape is increasingly plagued by gaslighting – a tactic that erodes the public’s trust and self-assurance to advance narrow political agendas. This manipulation is particularly dangerous because it undermines the policy discussions needed to create the best possible legislation for our citizens.
Gaslighters employ a range of manipulative tactics: lying, launching ad hominem attacks on critics, exaggerating successes, denying inconvenient truths, and blaming others for failures. These actions distort reality, leaving people questioning the validity of their own thoughts and perceptions.
The term “gaslighting” refers to a psychological manipulation that causes victims to doubt their own reality over time, leading to confusion, loss of confidence, and diminished self-esteem. The rise of this term in our cultural lexicon reflects a widespread and troubling trend in both global and national politics. The dramatic increase in searches for “gaslighting” by frustrated voters over the past years is a direct result of political trolling, deep state conspiracies, and the proliferation of fake news. This manipulation undermines our basic trust in government and erodes the foundation of civic engagement.
Examples of gaslighting abound, particularly on social media and sensationalized news outlets, where destructive lies, denigrating smears, and slanderous bullying create deep divisions and destructive personal attacks. Gaslighters often exploit stereotypes related to political labels, gender, race, sexuality, and other potential issues of conflict.
The fact that “gaslighting” was named the 2022 “Word of the Year” by Merriam Webster speaks volumes about the increasingly dangerous, abusive, and dehumanizing state of our world today. It also underscores the importance of calling out and exposing gaslighting whenever it appears.
Recently, certain bad actors have used AI-based audio cloning technology to clone a politician’s voice and create audio clips of them making statements they never uttered, spreading misinformation around elections. We saw this play out earlier in the year when falsified phone calls to New Hampshire voters with a clone of President Biden’s voice shocked many. While I’ve developed a thick skin over the years of public service, I worry about the impact of constant gaslighting and deep fakes on our elections, as well as our youth and vulnerable populations, especially during a time when we are facing a mental health crisis and post- COVID isolation. We have heard horror stories of “deepfake” naked images of high school students being spread around schools, much to the detriment of our youth. Therefore, I support criminalizing the dissemination of pornographic deepfake content depicting non-consenting individuals, as well as intentionally fraudulent AI-generated content used to spread election misinformation. We cannot allow these malicious gaslighting attempts to destroy the mental health of our youth or the sanctity of our elections.
As a first-generation immigrant, I love this country and deeply value the First Amendment and freedom of speech. However, I also know firsthand that a nation can be broken by internal division. That’s why I’m motivated to shine a light on negativity and use it constructively. Let that light guide us toward unity, truth, civility, and acceptance.
So, what can we do about it?
I’ve been fortunate to meet many incredibly resilient people in my life—individuals like Jeannette Maré (Ben’s Bells), Jennie Hubbard (Catherine V. Hubbard Animal Sanctuary), E. Patricia Llodra (former First Selectwoman of Newtown/Sandy Hook), and Monsignor Robert Weiss (St. Rose of Lima Church, Newtown). These inspiring people share and demonstrate certain key characteristics:
- A firm resolve in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges
- A commitment to kindness with resolve
- A resistance to anger and denigration
- A drive to heal, connect, and coexist
- An unwillingness to become victims
Through their words and actions, these individuals have shown me that by being kind with resolve, displaying mutual respect, listening better, and spreading positivity, we can overcome adversity.
While jarring headlines and divisive rhetoric that fill us with conflict, anger, loathing, frustration and fear will continue to proliferate, those emotions should motivate all of us to work even harder and together to develop collaborative and sustainable solutions and preserve honesty, integrity, and humanity.
Let’s get to work.
*Sen. Tony Hwang represents the 28 th Senate District encompassing the towns of Fairfield, Easton, Newtown and portions of Bethel. He is running for re-election and has been endorsed by the Republican, Independent and Forward Parties.
