Satanic panic

Satanic panic is a type of moral panic where people are accused of doing terrible things because they are Theistic Satanists or "devil worshippers." (Accused people rarely express such beliefs.) Usually, the accusations are provably false.

 Types of Satanic panic 
In most Satanic panic cases, a person or group is accused of abusing victims (usually children) during Satanic rituals. The best-known example in the United States is the McMartin preschool case, where parents accused teachers of committing ritual child sexual abuse acts hundreds of times.  Though these allegations were later proven false, the case spread Satanic panic across the country.

In other cases, non-human things are accused of being Satanic and driving people to kill themselves or others. The Dungeons & Dragons Satanic panic is one notable example. 

 Related pages 

Blood libel

References

Category:Satanism