Sadly, many people can be vicious with, or without, the internet. It's just that on the internet, they have a bigger platform, and can hide their identities.
In real life, some offended person could punch them in the nose.

The internet gives people the ability to say whatever they want without the fear of consequences. They don't care if they are being hurtful, or rude, or inconsiderate, what harm does it bring to them? Little to none. And why would news outlets spend the time and money to filter comments when they're making ad revenue off of each visitor good or bad?

True journalism where we had investigative reporters has been killed by the large corporation ownership of the media in all forms.

The internet has made for little bubbles. Your searches are remembered and algorithms will give you similar results from previous searches, so you eventually only get a single point of view which is similar to your own. This creates the illusion that everyone out in internet land thinks like you do, and it basically emboldens people to act like dicks.

There was a time when morons could not take the podium. Enter the internet.