The article presents an interdisciplinary analysis of moral panics as a phenomenon of the modern information society (from the standpoint of cultural, psychological, conflictological and sociological approaches). It is concluded, that by making a significant contribution to the development of general knowledge about moral panics, these approaches reflect, to a greater extent, the motives of moral panics. At the same time, within the framework of these conceptions, there is no analysis of the result of the systemic influence of moral panics on the society and its institutions. In the context of the information society, the study of moral panics as a social process will help uncover mechanisms for transforming the social structure, thereby forming an idea of moral panics as a factor of social changes.