Verb
do more harm than good (third-person singular simple present does more harm than good, present participle doing more harm than good, simple past did more harm than good, past participle done more harm than good)
To make a situation worse, usually while trying to make it better.
History is laden with belligerent leaders using humanitarian rhetoric to mask geopolitical aims. History also shows how often ill-informed moralism has led to foreign entanglements that do more harm than good. Samantha Power
Everybody wants the world to be a better place, and some think that government actions can bring that about. But they don't take into consideration that government actions can often do more harm than good. Eugene Fama