When the printing press was invented it unleashed an information revolution. Lot's of people gained access to lots of new ideas. It freaked a lot of people out. Information spreading like that was dangerous. It sparked the Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation, which included long bloody wars. Arguably the beginning of the Renaissance. Change scares people. Instability is very worrying. Conspiracy theories thrive in an environment like that. The result was the famous witch trials.
When the internet was invented it unleashed an information revolution. Lot's of people gained access to lots of new ideas. It freaked a lot of people out. Information spreading like that was dangerous. Change scares people. Instability is very worrying. Conspiracy theories thrive in an environment like that. QAnon, massive freak-outs about pedophiles, flat-earthers, idiots eating horse deworming paste.
The parallels are clear. Today peeps scream about wanting to lynch anyone who dares to date anyone younger than them. They need no evidence. Just like nobody needed evidence to know a witch needed to be executed. In times of great change people look for a scapegoat. Then it was alleged witches. Now it's alleged pedophiles.
What the actual fuck. From "mh I guess you could say so" it went down a steep cliff to somehow see pedophiles as scapegoats?! For... The internet? Information? What a twisted world view.