It's a stupid comparison, but I always think of The Ways from The Wheel of Time books. https://wheeloftime.fandom.com/wiki/Ways

It feels the closest in terms of fictional metaphor. We had this wondrous thing that let us connect to others and it was slowly corrupted and ultimately taken over by dark forces. Now using it you risk madness and the only people that truly see any benefits are those same dark forces that corrupted it.