I have had the misfortune to see a few widespread moral panics that have damaged society under the guise of protecting society. Such is the danger of allowing oneself to exhibit knee jerk emotional responses when faced with appeals to emotion. It is always a tragedy. It always degrades the freedom of the individual and the quality of relationships. Responding in that way can allow the degradation of the democratic basis of the society, as draconian general laws are enacted to protect the moral purity of the society, as a reflexive response to a limited specific event. The damage done is usually much greater than the benefit obtained, damage being in part done to that for which protection is sought.

At least, that was true of some events within my personal experience, for what that is worth.