I remember the 90's. Scientists and engineers were buzzing about the internet and the ability to spread information far and wide. Oh sure, it would largely be used for commercial efforts, gaming, porn and cats...but the negatives were easily offset by the insane increase in ability to spread information to a public hungry for knowledge.
As time went on, it slowly dawned on us that mis-information could spread just as easily...and the public is far more hungry for sensational conspiracies than actual facts and understanding. We still have no answer.
Really...the irony of the story is that its yet another example of perfectly good science and engineering going tits up because we forgot a minus sign.