As a teacher, it's a necessary tool. But you are right that it can be abused by teachers who are both attempting to inspire critical thinking AND trying to navigate their students to the "correct" answer at the same time.

If a teacher wants to convey a specific opinion or viewpoint, they should just share it. But if a teacher is genuinely willing to listen and wants to get their students to think critically about a topic -- without a desire to navigate the students in a specific direction -- then the Socratic method is very useful. But the teacher has to be truly willing to listen to their students. And that is hard for some teachers.