The rich and powerful roughneck of the world — governments , corporations , famous person , etc . — have lots of creative ways to control the public ’s access to information , especially when that information makes them see bad : determent , bans , bribery or uncoiled - up censorship . But every once in a while , an especiallyclumsy censorship effort backfiresand the situation goes from bad to much , much worse .
Take the case of Barbra Streisand , awarding - acquire actress , vocaliser and owner of a sprawl mega - mansion near the affluent coastal enclave of Malibu , California . Back in 2003 , Streisandsued a lensman named Kenneth Adelmanbecause he turn away to delete a picture of her Malibu mansion from an on-line projection that tracked wearing away on the California coastline . Adelman was n’t a paparazzo trying to snag a shot of Babs in her washup suit . He was document an important environmental effect .
Streisand was n’t the first would - be censor to get burned by her own attempt to repress information , but her name became indelibly attach to the phenomenon when theTechDirt blogger Mike Masnickjokingly label the boomerang the " Streisand gist . "
" Nobody had paid much attention to the whole thing until the case , which I ’m indisputable Streisand wishes she had never undertaken , " say Sue Curry Jansen , professor emeritus of spiritualist and communications at Muhlenberg College , whoco - author a 2015 paperabout the rum dynamics of the Streisand effect .
The Streisand effect is a mathematical product of public outrage and blowback over comprehend security review or any endeavor by someone with power to repress destitute speech . As Streisand ’s lawsuit shows , a muckle of purportedly " dangerous " information would n’t belike pull much attention if left uncensored , but the very routine of assay to repress it creates public outrage , which end up shining a far brighter light source on the information in the process . Not to cite that hoi polloi are naturally curious about anything that is being covered - up or attempted to be suppressed . " Why is this selective information being hidden ? " we marvel .
It ’s also been shown that banning record book or stop access to sure websites only serves to increase public demand for the censor info . One studyfrom 2018 discover that China ’s attempts to block admittance to sites like Twitter and Facebook motivate millions of otherwise apolitical citizens to download VPN software to evade the censors and get at the sites .
Poetic Justice in Action
In their paper , Jansen and her carbon monoxide gas - author Brian Martin of the University of Wollongong in Australia highlight some in truth shine example of the Streisand effect at work , from global corporations to grade - school cafeterias :
The degenerate intellectual nourishment heavyweight McDonald ’s made a Brobdingnagian mistake in the 1990s when it sued two volunteers with the activist organisation London Greenpeace for a street tract they write called , " What ’s Wrong with McDonald ’s ? " The trial run , which the British jam dub " McLibel , " became the longest - running civil test in British history and turn over critics of McDonald ’s a media bullhorn for publicizing the chain ’s exploitative advertising , low-toned salary and unhealthy food for thought . And just like Streisand , McDonald ’s ended up losing the suit .
Fox News also hang dupe to the Streisand effect the same year that Streisand shoot down herself in the proverbial foot . In 2003 , the cable news program connection sued Al Franken — then a comedian and actor , not yet a senator — for right of first publication violation over his anti - conservative book , " Lies and the rest Liars Who Tell Them : A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right . " Fox News alleged that the phrase " Fair and Balanced " was its noetic property , but a judge dissent . Not only did Fox News lose the suit , but the costless promotional material shot Franken ’s book tothe top of the bestseller list .
One of the funniest / distressing example of the Streisand effect took place in Scotland in 2012 , when a 9 - year - old schoolgirl Martha Payne began taking mental picture of her school cafeteria tiffin and writing about them on her personal blog . When the chef and television receiver personality Jamie Oliver tweeted about Payne ’s web log , the site received 3 million smash in just two calendar month . The local town council , fearing that the grade - schooler was making them look unintelligent , did something even stupider and banned her from taking picture at school . Of course , Payne blogged about the ban , too , which made outside news . The town council publicly apologized and removed the Bachelor of Arts in Nursing .
“Outrage Management”
As amusing as these examples are , Jansen deplore that most censoring efforts are successful . They work precisely because we never hear about them .
" That ’s the way power operate , " says Jansen . " For example , the non - disclosure agreements that employees have to signalise to work at many potbelly . you could make out something really unfit is going on , but you ca n’t tell anyone . Not only will you be fire , but you ’ll be action . "
Even if a powerful individual or entity is catch trying to silence a critic or conceal a soiled secret , there ’s a whole crisis management playbook to disperse public shout . Jansen and Martin call it " outrage management . "
In their paper , they list five techniques that censor use to disgrace and secrecy critics :
" There are Puerto Rico people who are very good at doing this kind of matter , " says Jansen . " They set up up hearing sessions with people who are object to something , then single out one or two citizenry and put them on a ' citizens committee . ' Sometimes they even overtly buy people with some form of honorific and then go with whatever they intended to do in the first place . "
The Streisand Effect Depends on Free Speech and Press
The Streisand effect can be an effective check on censorship and the misuse of office to bully critic into muteness , but only if the bit of censorship is drag into the Christ Within by a free and unfettered press . None of the examples we cite above , including Streisand ’s , would have happened if not for journalists find fault up the stories and bringing them to the public ’s attention .
Unfortunately , the effectuality of the media as a check on censorship has taken a hit during the " fake news " era . If politicians and other people in big businessman can can news stories that make them depend uncollectible as biased or pretended , then the power of the Streisand effect dry out up .
" That ’s a actual issue , " says Jansen . " The whole sense of what is the ' truth ' has been undermined quite deliberately . "
