An appeal to fear fallacy occurs when someone uses fear to drive a response to an argument. Typically, fear is used to make a decision or position seem fraught with negative consequences. Often, an appeal to fear fallacy occurs in conjunction with a slippery slope fallacy.
In our comic below, you can see how an appeal to fear has been used to provoke an irrational reaction to a new policy decision.
For a screen reader compatible slideshow version of the comic, please click through the below images:
While the above example might seem outlandish, appeals to fear are one of the fallacies you’re most likely to encounter in everyday life. Media outlets frequently use fear to drive engagement with their stories, and political campaigns have been using fear-based messaging for hundreds of years. Appeals to fear prey on the less well-informed, so it’s always important to try analyzing and understanding the underlying issue. Ask yourself: who is trying to scare me and why?