Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called on state Republicans to condemn violent online rhetoric.
It comes after Tong received racist and threatening comments on his social media. He said he regularly posts to his accounts on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Although negative comments aren’t new to him, Tong said in recent months they’ve become increasingly hateful.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, state leaders were urged to publicly condemn the negative social media rhetoric. Tong said he believes that the Trump administration has encouraged this type of rhetoric online and he is concerned that hateful comments could incite violence.
“It reflects what has not been said by my Republican colleagues here in Connecticut. I just want to say to them, you guys, you can’t wait for this storm to pass. We all have to come together and push back,” Tong said.
After posting a video from a rally he spoke at in West Hartford, Tong said he received an avalanche of hate. Tong spoke about his experience as a child of immigrants. He said one comment read “we should Renee Good him,” referring to the woman that ICE shot and killed in Minnesota.
“Some of it is bots and I know that, but some of it is real people. Some of it is real people in Connecticut and some of it is people from other parts of the country. But if they feel empowered that they have the license to hurt somebody, that's a scary place to be,” Tong said.
Tong said he posted a photo of a dog that his family is fostering and received hundreds of negative and racist comments. He said the right to exercise free speech doesn't excuse hate speech.
“I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm still shocked by these comments and the volume and the intensity of these comments, which of course are joined with many other comments about my Chinese heritage,” Tong said.
Tong said he plans to introduce a bill addressing social media in the upcoming Connecticut legislative session. He is also working on a bipartisan effort with attorneys general from several states to establish a coalition to stop AI assistants, like Grok, from creating generated nonconsensual sexual content of people and children.
