[myNetWords.com] : Streisand effect

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Streisand effect

Updated : Thursday 23 February 2012

Who would have expected a singer and actress in her seventies (not exactly a digital native) to coin a popular new online term: the Streisand Effect? This expression, suggested by Nora Neko and Kaesse is used to describe the unintended consequences or boomerang effect (whichever you prefer) of taking legal proceedings against someone over something they have put online on a website or blog.

The term originated with a lawsuit the singer Barbra Streisand filed in 2003 against a website that had published a photo of her house on the internet. The website posted a defence online to the effect that while it had photographed the singer’s house it did so in a good cause, to show the erosion of the California coastline. It attracted much online support for its position, with the result that the photo, which would otherwise have gone practically unnoticed, was viewed more than 500 000 times after the lawsuit was filed. This was the first recorded instance of the boomerang effect of an attempt to censor online content.

Put another way, the remedy (the lawsuit) did much more harm than the original wrongful act (a photo seen by only a handful of people). Since that case, other examples of the Streisand Effect on the internet have come thick and fast and there has even been a website set up to illustrate the phenomenon: http://www.thestreisandeffect.com/.

Examples referred to on that website include Ralph Lauren, who sued an American website in 2009 for criticising one of his advertising campaigns. His attempt at censorship created so much buzz that he had to apologise on television, as the story had spread to the traditional media. Tiger Woods also found out to his cost about the Streisand Effect, when his attempt to prevent the media from publishing any nude photos they might have of him triggered a whole media campaign.

With time, the expression has taken on a broader meaning. It is now used to mean any boomerang effect of an act of censorship, on or offline. Like Tiger Woods, you might trigger a debate by asking a newspaper to withdraw a compromising photo. And the Streisand Effect is not the exclusive preserve of celebrities or big brand names, anyone can fall victim to it. For example, an association of chiropractors sued a doctor who had criticised a statement they had put out for bordering on untruth. A group of bloggers took up the issue and generated a buzz that severely undermined the association’s credibility.

So, how do you avoid being added to the list of victims of the Streisand Effect? Not easy, especially if you are one of those companies or celebrities whose first response is to go to law, or call their lawyer at the slightest sign of trouble.

Over the last 10 to 15 years we have seen our society becoming ever more litigation-prone, with the slightest misunderstanding ending up in the courts, to the glee of the lawyers. It seems the internet may be striking a blow against the power of the courts. Nowadays, if you are targeted by a blogger or your company is parodied on Youtube you’d be well advised to give your mouse a few reflective clicks before launching into a legal battle. Lawsuits should be saved for use on the rare occasions when the criticism levelled against you is totally unjustified and your own general behaviour is absolutely beyond reproach, as once the spotlights are turned on you, there’s no knowing what skeletons they will find in your cupboards. If in doubt, don’t go there. Especially if your critics were acting with a sense of humour, in which case attacking them is even more risky.

Lastly, even if you have every reason to sue, bear in mind that not only is this risky, but it is rarely effective. The wheels of the law grind more slowly than the internet. It will take at least 24 hours to get an injunction for the removal of a compromising video, by which time it will have done the rounds of the internet. What’s more, the web now has its own anti-censorship device in the form of mirror sites. These websites reproduce the exact content of another website which for a variety of reasons (usually censorship) is no longer accessible.

http://streisand.me/ is a new online service whose stated objective is to denounce all forms of censorship on the web. It contains pages that have been censored and taken down from the web, which it puts back online via mirror sites. It’s an example of how the internet is constantly developing new weapons to combat all forms of censorship and preserve freedom of expression online.