Its misuse of the term "don't panic". "Don't panic" should mean "remain calm yet vigilant", not "stop being a crybaby and follow everyday life like a good sheep". Panicking doesn't make sense unless you wish to activate people who wouldn't otherwise, and neither does misleading people with poor, incomplete or flat-out wrong statistics. Pretty sure that's why the term "don't panic" gets a bad rep: one party means to be serious but calm, the other party uses it as means to ridicule those who err on the side of caution.