Years ago, before the internet, the "bad apples" didn't have a platform to spread their [fear, hate, misinformation, etc...].

With social media, they now have a very far reaching platform that has no requirements to enter - so, the easily influenced individuals are bombarded and slowly start believing all they read.

I shudder to think what might have happened if folks like Hitler/Stalin/Mussolini had access to such a perfect propaganda engine as the internet. It has the capability of removing the borders that usually separate feuding parties.