How the next generation of 80s style ‘satanic panic’ is spreading across Australia
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Welcome to satanic panic 2.0.
The core fear – that hidden forces are harming our children – is exactly the same. But the delivery is terrifyingly different.
This new dread is exploding across Australian suburbia, supercharged by TikTok ‘influencers’ who are turning their lifestyle brands into platforms for paranoia.
“The original satanic panic in the 80s was fuelled by talk shows, tabloids and moral outrage,” registered psychologist, Taash Balakas, told news.com.au.
The horror of this new panic is its insidious delivery system.
It’s not coming from men in tinfoil hats, it’s coming from the ‘conspiritualism’ space – a bizarre, poisonous cocktail of New Age wellness, health advice, and far-right QAnon conspiracy theories.
This phenomenon, dubbed ‘pastel paranoia,’ is where extreme, dark theories are repackaged in soft focus and gentle colours by seemingly innocent lifestyle influencers.
These aren’t your typical extremists, they’re social media figures who have spent years building a loyal following based on advice about non-toxic living.
Now, they’re simply swapping scepticism about sourdough starter for accusations of ritual abuse.
“Pre-internet, these things mostly stayed fairly local,” notes associate professor at University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Lauren Rosewarne.
“Now, with social media and the potentially global reach of content, provided the content is interesting enough, its reach is enormous.”
Read more https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/how-the-next-generation-of-80s-style-satanic-panic-is-spreading-across-australia/news-story/eb78734ca5336cda58868e6d2459febc
Content retrieved from: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/how-the-next-generation-of-80s-style-satanic-panic-is-spreading-across-australia/news-story/eb78734ca5336cda58868e6d2459febc.
