Wiktionary
n. A semi-spontaneous or media-generated mass movement based on the perception that an individual, group, community, or culture is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. A public outcry.
Wikipedia
A moral panic is a feeling of fear spread among a large number of people that some evil threatens the well-being of society. A Dictionary of Sociology defines a moral panic as "the process of arousing social concern over an issue – usually the work of moral entrepreneurs and the mass media." The media are key players in the dissemination of moral indignation, even when they do not appear to be consciously engaged in crusading or muckraking. Simply reporting the facts can be enough to generate concern, anxiety, or panic.
Examples include the belief in widespread abduction of children by predatory pedophiles, belief in ritual abuse by satanic cults of women and children, scaremongering of the spread of AIDS, and the War on Drugs.
Usage examples of "moral panic".
The first is that every moral panic has its scapegoat, as the Mods and the Rockers, onto whom the concerns and worries of the society will be projected.
Nothing in her training told her how to deal with a commanding officer so consumed with moral panic his brain had ceased functioning, yet that was what she faced.
Charity opted for demure silence to cover moral panic, spending much time in the bathroom and in finding the right music on the small FM radio.