In a recent Conversation essay, United States academic Ron Barrett identified three characteristics of moral panics:

• the segregation of a society into "us" and "them"
• labelling "them" according to categories that deprive them of positive human qualities
• the creation of disproportional fear which can lead to extreme policies and violent action.

Public fears can lead to demands for extreme political responses and things can turn nasty.

Modern technology and the rise of social media can also intensify and lead to a viral moral panic.

What may have once been an unpleasant conversation at a family gathering is now an online comment or meme that spreads wider and faster than ever.