Talk:Moral panic

Social and mainstream media shitstorms

The article is peculiarly only listing right-wing moral panic incidents. But the left-wing ones are increasing, many of these include accusations of racism, sexism or other 'isms. There are very many examples of companies, cultural customs, place names, statues etc. accused of being offensive or contrary to modern, humanist norms. Not all of these discussions, but certainly some of them, evolve into moral panic situations, including smearing one's opponents and promoting radical interpretations of the issue. And obviously, some will disagree, but the examples mentioned in the article will also divide people. Being polemic is an intrinsic part of moral panic. (I know the word "shitstorm" mostly from Germany, but it appears to be also sometimes used in English. Is there a better word?) --Sasper (talk) 02:58, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

• Be bold and add examples if you have reliable sources to back them up. Trilobright (talk) 22:55, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
  • And if those reliable sources show that those examples meet the criteria set forth by Cohen as stated in the article (see Cohen's stages of moral panic). Johnnie Bob (talk) 01:29, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

Cohen's stages

The National Institutes of Health have a paper about this worded as follows: [1]

1. An event, condition, episode or someone is defined as a threat to the values, safety and interest of the wider society.
2. The media then amplifies these apparent threats through inflammatory rhetoric These portrayals appeal to public prejudices, creating villains in need of social control (folk devils) and victims (the moral majority).
3. The publicity surrounding the threat creates a sense of social anxiety leading to a public outpouring of concern.
4. Government then responds to the public outcry and frames the alleged threat as being symptomatic of a wider social malaise that must be addressed.
5. The moral panic and the responses to it transform the regulation of economy and society with the aim of tempering public outrage.

Probably a little more descriptive and accurate view of the process.Progressingamerica (talk) 04:31, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

That is not an article of the United States National Institute of Health, but merely made accessible through PubMed, their database of public articles from medical journals. The affiliation of the two authors is Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, UK and Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, UK. It is more of an opinion piece than a scientific article. (Very evident from their critique of "neoliberal" policies already in the introduction.) I think they have interesting points, but it is obviously about specific health policy issues – when diseases are being over-exposed and turn into a moral panic. Obesity is their prime example. --Sasper (talk) 07:24, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for letting me know of the opinion-nature of this. Progressingamerica (talk) 13:27, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

The list given leaves out moral entrepreneurs, which iirc are an important part of the development of the moral panic. As for the noted non-neutral language of that article, if so then it's better to skip that article entirely and stick with a good short summary of Cohen instead. AllGloryToTheHypnotoad (talk) 21:13, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Suggestion to add section: "Reaction to Covid 19 restrictions".

Title: Reaction to Covid 19 restrictions (2019–present)

Fear of Covid-19 pandemic that was followed by governmental policy was postulated to result in global economic recession. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Infection Fatality Rate for Covid-19 is around 0.5-1%, describing the true severity of a disease. Accordingly, fear of losses, and potential burden on health system have lead governments around the world to impose policies (e.g., lockdowns, tests for Covid-19) that are likely to cause worldwide economic recession.--192.114.3.241 (talk) 05:45, 11 August 2021 (UTC)

Explanation: According to definition of moral panic it does not have to be irrational. Accordingly, HIV, Islamic terror, Human traffic, sex offenders are described in this Wikipage. Thus, reaction of Covid-19 can be also a Moral panic. It would be great to read your thoughts about it. A. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 13:44, 11 August 2021 (UTC)

Hrm. I was gonna say I don't see sources making the connection, but there are some sources that do discuss how the theory of moral panic can be applied to studying reactions to infectuous diseases - eg. Toilet Paper Thrones and Heated Tweets: Applying Moral Panic and Social Network Theory to Responses Over Panic Buying during COVID-19 is one connecting it to panic buying specifically, and here is one talking about how it relates to panic over COVID in the Philippines. But I'd be cautious - these sources are more talking about how Cohen's framework can be repurposed to analyze other types of panic than saying that it is (or created) a moral panic, so it wouldn't make sense to put it in the list of moral panics directly. --Aquillion (talk) 01:29, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Looks like there is some interesting similarity with "Cohen's stages of moral panic": 1. Perceived and defined as a threat to societal safety. 2. Amplified by the mass media. 3. Social anxiety(? not sure about this term but anxiety for sure). 4. Politicians respond to the threat. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 10:18, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

At this point, I would say that such an addition would be an NPOV violation. There is little or no evidence from reliable sources that matches the responses of health agencies and governments to a moral panic definition. If anything, there is a sort of inverted moral panic, where legitimate responses are opposed and deprecated on ideological or propagandistic grounds. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:10, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Very interesting. It is not my field but googling it up I can see some publications supporting this claim (1, 2, 3, 4). If some of these were peer reviewed than they should be Neutral. Meaning, it is probably not a Neutral point of view (NPOV) violation. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 10:27, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

Also, considering the fact that the great majority of Covid cases (confirmed by PCR) are simply healthy as they have no symptoms, it does seem like panic. Panic which is highly promoted by the media. This results in governmental regulations that violate freedom. Again, without being an expert in the field, reading the wikipage about moral panic, the Covid seems like moral panic to me. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 12:20, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

More researchers supporting the idea that reaction to Covid may have been a moral panic [see 1234] or an anxiety epidemic 5. The first is an opinion written by by John Scott, an honorable Professor of Sociology (Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.). I dare say that article of such an "heavy weight" Sociologist is a case against the NPOV violation claim --192.114.3.241 (talk) 12:37, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

According to the definition, a moral panic demonizes an "other". What is the "other" being demonized in the case of Covid-19? Just because someone uses the words "moral panic" doesn't mean that it counts as a moral panic for the purpose of this article. This article is on a scholarly topic with a rigid definition. AllGloryToTheHypnotoad (talk) 14:51, 25 September 2021 (UTC)

Demonization is already here across the board. The "other" have been: children demonized for being the vector for transmission of Covid, Medical Doctors and scientist that dont agree with governmental regulations, those who did not take only the booster shot, people that don't put on facemask, those who don't take any of covid vaccinations; all of these groups have been terribly demonized by being accused to cause direct or/and indirect death to others. This was done by the the media, and democratic governments reacted by new laws and regulations. Again, I am not expert in the field, but seems very similar to stages of moral panic. Here are some examples: stop-demonizing-students-for-covid, hear-scientists-different-views-dont-attack-them, open-plea-for-dignity-and-respect-in-science, Don’t demonize parents who are hesitant to vaccinate, why-demonizing-the-unvaccinated-wont-work, unvaccinated-different-from-antivax, Stop demonizing one anothe, new-wave-of-covid-19-is-not-the-fault-of-the-unvac, medias-all-out-blitz-to-demonize-the-unvaccinated, millions-unvaccinated-risk-losing-civil-liberties, children_acused_fo_transmission_of_COVID.

Speaking of scholary rigid wiki-article- see article of expert in the field- Professor Scott (Fellow of the Royal Society of Art) Risk and Moral Panic: A Sociological View of Covid-19. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 16:17, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

I think this example would be clearer if reframed as "reaction to Covid 19 restrictions". Recommendations from medical authorities changed rapidly during 2020 (e.g., usefulness of masks, which types were best, whether fake N-95 were proliferating), which might seem like panic but it was often simply urgent adaptation. IMO, the real *moral* panic is condemnation and censorship of dissenting voices, justified in moral terms as banning "dangerous" misinformation rather than supporting free speech and open scientific inquiry. The role of the media fits the classic definitions of moral panic given in this article. In particular, authoritative pronouncements have closely mimicked many of the exaggerations seen in the early years of the AIDS crisis. If the latter qualifies as moral panic, then it seems logical to include an aspect of Covid 19, which has more widespread political and economic implications than HIV did. Martindo (talk) 21:43, 10 November 2021 (UTC)

Following your insightful suggestion: changed the Title of the suggested section into "Reaction to Covid 19 restrictions (2019–present)".

Suggesting to write this revised content instead of the content suggested on top:

Condemnation and censorship of dissenting voices during Covid 19 pandemic, justified in moral terms as banning "dangerous" misinformation rather than supporting free speech and open scientific inquiry. See examples: stop-demonizing-students-for-covid, hear-scientists-different-views-dont-attack-them, open-plea-for-dignity-and-respect-in-science, Don’t demonize parents who are hesitant to vaccinate, unvaccinated-different-from-antivax, Stop demonizing one another, new-wave-of-covid-19-is-not-the-fault-of-the-unvac, medias-all-out-blitz-to-demonize-the-unvaccinated, millions-unvaccinated-risk-losing-civil-liberties.--192.114.3.241 (talk) 09:57, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

I reverted an addition related to this today. The sources I spot checked did not mention moral panic at all. I believe an addition of this type would need better sourcing to not be WP:OR. –Novem Linguae (talk) 11:22, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

See related citations suggesting aspects of reaction to COVID-19 as moral panic 123456. We can add them to the suggested paragraph. A. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 07:51, 29 November 2021 (UTC)

Video nasties

There should be a section on the UK video nasties. JAF1970 (talk) 13:36, 22 September 2021 (UTC)

Suggestion to add a section named "Infectious diseases" (under Historic examples).

Suggesting to add the following information: New section name Infectious diseases (Under Historic examples).

Content: Scholars have previously mentioned that Real infectious diseases have a powerful psychological effect. For example SARS quickly became a “moral panic”, which spread worldwide, being accompanied by a true sense of stigma. (see The Lancet at 2010). --192.114.3.241 (talk) 12:38, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

This is practically a citation from a publication in highly respected peer reviewed journal. --192.114.3.241 (talk) 10:49, 12 October 2021 (UTC)