Fourth, politicians are also protagonists in a moral panic. They spin the public opinion and present 
themselves as the safeguards of the moral high ground. They are similar to law enforcement in this drama 
and they have an obligation to protect society from folk devils. 
The fifth and final category of moral panic is the public. The public is the most important actor on the 
stage. Public anxiety and fear over the folk devils is the central theme of moral panics. A moral panic only 
exists because the public cries out for policymakers and law enforcement to “do something” and save them 
from the alleged threat that has been created. 
Carlson, M. (2018). Fake news as an informal moral panic: The symbolic deviance of social media during 
the 2016 US presidential election. Information,  Communication, and Society.   https://doi.org/10.1080/
1369118X.2018.1505934 
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1505934?journalCode=rics20 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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