History Main / StreisandEffect

* On February 29, 2024, a few ''Sweet Baby Inc'' employees became aware of a Platform/Steam curator boycott group called ''Sweet Baby Inc Detected'' that tracks games that the company was involved with, due to the belief that their mission of promoting inclusivity and representation is being done at the expense of a game’s quality. One employee on Twitter/X, the narrative lead, proceeded to call it a harassment group that violates the platform's TOS and [[https://archive.is/TRNrr outright told their followers to mass report the group and the creator's account to get them banned]]. Needless to say, this backfired ''hard'' after people quickly caught wind of it, with the curator group growing from [[https://archive.is/YAL0m only a few hundred followers on February 26th]], to [[https://archive.ph/OwmTU over 160k followers in just a few days.]]

* After Creator/{{Konami}} infamously [[ExecutiveMeddling cancelled]] ''VideoGame/SilentHills'', they went one step further by completely delisting ''P.T.'' from the [=PlayStation=] Store, meaning [[ScrewedByTheNetwork you can't play it even if you paid for it]], as part of their efforts to wipe out their primary [=IPs=] and switch from making games to [[MoneyDearBoy making money]] in other businesses. Naturally, their efforts to eliminate the game only succeeded in elevating it from the status of "cool horror demo" to "the sacred Holy Grail of video gaming" practically overnight, with [=PS4s=] that had the [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes demo saved on their memory]] selling online for [[CrackIsCheaper thousands of dollars in cash]]. Dozens of [[https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/16/10296546/pt-hideo-kojima-silent-hills-re-download-ps4 tutorials]] showing how to re-download the game immediately sprung up around the internet overnight, and dedicated fans devoted their efforts to keep the spirit of the game alive by any means necessary, including creating games [[SpiritualSuccessor with a similar atmosphere and story]] like ''VideoGame/AllisonRoad'', trying to copy the file from consoles that had it saved, and there have been even a few {{Fan Remake}}s for the PC.

* Former FGC member WebVideo/LowTierGod learned of a documentary about his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XautDocZvbM "Rise and Fall"]] from [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYMbbNRzlXOhQHBB6EoudZg Joon The King]]. Low Tier God tried anything he could to get the video taken down, such as flagging it, then mass-flagging it, then releasing Joon's personal information to his equally toxic fandom. When all of that didn't work, [=LTG=] tried to take Joon to court for slander and defamation. Low Tier God's reaction and [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionately severe]] response to the documentary has only caused people to check it out, subsequently learning just how toxic he is. Joon eventually released [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aARR9d0Idfo a second video detailing the whole matter]].

* On April 10, 2020, soon after the breakout of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic in Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the country's ruling Law and Justice party, decided to visit the grave of his twin brother Lech to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_air_disaster Smolensk disaster]], [[{{Hypocrite}} while the COVID-related restrictions imposed by his government forbade the rest of the Polish people from doing the same for their loved ones.]] A month later, famous singer-songwriter Kazik released a single about the incident, titled "Twój ból jest lepszy niż mój" ("Your pain is better than mine"). While it reached the top of the state-run Polish Radio Station III's music chart (which has for years been the most notable of its kind), it didn't attract much attention beyond that, with the music video sitting around a couple hundred thousand views on Website/YouTube. That is, until the station's editor-in-chief Tomasz Kowalczewski nullified that week's chart (which was widely interpreted as having been done on the insistence of Law and Justice's top brass), claiming that the vote was rigged somehow. This controversy led to the song skyrocketing in popularity, reaching almost 8.3 million views a week after the initial Station III chart. It also led to Marek Niedźwiecki, one of Poland's most respected radio broadcasters and the station's biggest draws, [[StartMyOwn leaving to start his own Internet radio station]], with plenty of his colleagues following suit. Without most of its top talent, Station III later experienced a massive ratings decline, dropping to 50% of its share of radio listeners from a year prior.

* The Church of Scientology ran afoul of the effect in 2008: their DMCA takedown of a video on Website/YouTube of Creator/TomCruise talking about Scientology resulted in the eventual creation of Project Chanology, the ongoing Internet-based crusade to have the Church's status as a religion revoked and to bring to light the various wrongdoings of the Church. Similarly, ''after'' Chanology's creation, attempts by Scientology to have specific documents about the Church and the religion itself erased from the Internet have failed miserably, with mirrors popping up almost as soon as a takedown attempt is issued. Much earlier was Scientology's attempt to shut down the Usenet group 'alt.religion.scientology' in 1995. From this point on, it's called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_versus_the_Internet Scientology vs. the Internet.]]''

* In September 2023, [[https://youtu.be/XyOSBp3arDo a YouTube video was released]] accusing ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' developer [=YandereDev=] of having groomed a 16-year old girl codenamed "Jane", followed by [[JuryAndWitnessTampering intimidating her into denying the accusations and attempting to prevent its release]]. The video was subsequently hit with a copyright strike revealing "Jane"'s real name, with her later confirming that [=YandereDev=] had done so under her name and without her permission. [=YandereDev=]'s attempts to keep the scandal under wraps merely [[RevealingCoverUp confirmed to many onlookers that he had something to hide]], and they promptly reuploaded archived links to the accusation on websites such as Website/{{Tumblr}} and Website/{{Twitter}} to spread awareness. Although the original video was reinstated a while later, the damage was done -- nearly all of ''Yandere Simulator'''s voice actors and several major crew members quit in solidarity with the allegations, and [=YandereDev=] himself was banned from both Website/{{Twitch}} and Creator/{{Discord}}.

* Discussed in the article "[[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/317772/how-to-handle-criticism How to Handle Criticism]]" on Website/FimfictionDotNet. The article's author advises to not [[DearNegativeReader respond to negative criticism]] or attempt to delete comments that are trying to give ConstructiveCriticism on one's stories. The reason behind it is that people who weren't interested in your story are going to be attracted to all the drama surrounding it, and the [[OvershadowedByControversy story will be more known for]] being FlameBait than whatever it was originally being criticized for.[[invoked]]

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'' and its main character Basil Fawlty was based on Donald Sinclair[[note]]Do NOT confuse with the Donald Sinclair who was the basis for the Creator/JamesHerriot character Sigfried Farnon. The veterinary Donald Sinclair was by all accounts a very nice person, unlike the hotel operator of the same name[[/note]], an eccentric and irascible Torquay hotelier whom Creator/JohnCleese had observed during a stay in his hotel during a ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' shoot. Years after the success of the show, Sinclair's widow contacted the newspapers to complain about the depiction of the character based on her husband, claiming that Cleese had unfairly exaggerated Sinclair's eccentricity, incompetence, and foul temper. Far from salvaging her husband's reputation, all it did was provoke a lot of independent witnesses to ''also'' contact the papers with a lot of anecdotes about Sinclair. All of these accounts suggested that Cleese was not too far off the mark; if anything, Cleese had actually downplayed how irritable Sinclair was. His widow kept silent after that.

* After Creator/{{Konami}} infamously [[ExecutiveMeddling cancelled]] ''VideoGame/SilentHills'', they went one step further by completely delisting ''P.T.'' from the [=PlayStation=] Store, meaning [[ScrewedByTheNetwork you can't play it even if you paid for it]], as part of their efforts to wipe out their primary [=IPs=] and switch from making games to [[MoneyDearBoy making money]] in other businesses. Naturally, their efforts to eliminate the game only succeeded in elevating it from the status of "cool horror demo" to "the sacred Holy Grail of video gaming" practically overnight, with [=PS4s=] that had the [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes demo saved on their memory]] selling online for [[CrackIsCheaper thousands of dollars in cash]]. Dozens of [[https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/16/10296546/pt-hideo-kojima-silent-hills-re-download-ps4 tutorials]] showing how to re-download the game immediately sprung up around the internet overnight, and dedicated fans devoted their efforts to keep the spirit of the game alive by any means necessary, including creating games [[SpiritualSuccessor with a similar atmosphere and story]] like ''VideoGame/AllisonRoad'', trying to copy the file from consoles that had it saved, and even a few {{Fan Remake}}s.

[[caption-width-right:325:Music/BarbraStreisand doesn't want you to see this picture. [[SarcasmMode Well done, Barb!]]

[[caption-width-right:325:Music/BarbraStreisand doesn't want you to see this picture. [[SarcasmMode Well]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero done,]] [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Barb!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:325:Music/BarbraStreisand doesn't want you to see this picture. [[SarcasmMode Well done, Barb!]]]]

* This is a driving reason why Billy Mitchell (of ''Film/TheKingOfKong'' fame) and his alleged cheating and collusion with Walter Day and Twin Galaxies arcade has become so well-known. Mitchell developed a nasty habit of filing {{Frivolous Lawsuit}}s towards anyone who so much as suggests he cheated at the world record for ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' or lied about receiving his title of "Video Game Player Of The Century" in an attempt to cover it up, which backfired and caused it to become such common knowledge that even ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' once [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcAlMnR4RwE made fun of him]]. He sued them for that too, lost, and they retalatiated by mocking him even further. Worse still, old photos have resurfaced that prove conclusively that Mitchell cheated[[note]][[https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/image-3.png This]] old photo shows that the cabinet he played on was modified to have a red joystick capable of registering eight directions, rather than the stock black joystick that only registered four, letting him climb ladders to dismount them faster than normal[[/note]], and he escalated things to the point that he even attempted to fake court evidence by having a new "Video Game Player Of The Century" plaque made which was quickly debunked as fake[[note]][[https://perfectpacman.com/2023/07/23/fake-evidence/ this article goes into ludicrous detail]]. Note that was originally Mitchell's own site; when he let the domain expire someone bought it and made a site devoted to his exposing him as a cheater and fraud, also likely in retaliation for his trigger-happy lawsuits[[/note]] because of all the attention he's brought onto himself. Mitchell even once tried to sue [=YouTuber=] [[https://www.youtube.com/@karljobst Karl Jobst]] for mentioning Mitchell one time in one video, and then ''again'' for featuring [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTqRx-F7ZqA this clip]] in one video, causing Jobst to retaliate by making ''over a dozen'' more videos devoted entirely to Mitchell that offer play-by-play coverage of the whole ordeal, spreading word about Mitchell being a cheater even further. More than likely, none of this would have ever been seen aside from a handful of {{Speed Run}}ners had Mitchell not been so trigger-happy with lawsuits that tried to sue people into silence.

* Music/{{Beck}} used to end interviews angrily if the subject of him being involved with the Church of Scientology was brought up. Back in the '90s, this wasn't widely known, nor was it publicized. But due to his reactions, his connection with the church and attempts to suppress it became one of the most identifiable things about him. He has since become a bit more comfortable about this due to the fact that he knows that his fans are mostly accepting of it (and the fact that he is not officially a member of the Church of Scientology as of 2019), but he still leaves huge gaps when talking about his childhood.

* In September 2018, ''The Verge'' posted a guide on their [=YouTube=] channel for building a high-end custom gaming PC. The entire debacle has been a case study in the Streisand effect essentially from the start. The video was widely criticized by PC enthusiasts and the tech community at large for its many glaring mistakes, baffling choices of both parts and building process choices, and manipulative editing. The latter is especially problematic because potential first-time PC builders might use the video as a guide, confusing themselves at best and damaging their parts at worst. Many major tech [=YouTubers=], such as Bitwit, Paul's Hardware, [=ReviewTechUSA=], and others made reaction videos on their own channels that broke down each of ''The Verge''[='=]s mistakes or parodies of the original video. ''The Verge'' disabled comments and likes on their video, a red flag in its own right, before ultimately taking the video down. Had they stopped with that, the original video probably would have been forgotten about with time. [[DoubleSubversion But they didn't stop with that]]. In February 2019, Vox Media, which owns ''The Verge'', suddenly started issuing copyright takedowns on these criticism and parody videos, [[{{Hypocrite}} a few days after ''The Verge'' published an article about the rampant abuse of copyright takedowns on YouTube to suppress valid criticism and opposing viewpoints]]. The PC community came roaring back, with nearly every tech [=YouTuber=] and publication calling them out on it, finding even more errors that were pointed out the first time around, and reuploading the original video in droves. Each of ''The Verge''[='=]s subsequent attempts at damage control has only dug them deeper in trouble, and all the while they haven't once apologized or addressed the fact that their original video was misleading.

** At [=BlizzCon=] 2018, Blizzard announced ''VideoGame/DiabloImmortal'', which was not met well at all by fans there, as it was [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a mobile phone game announced at the end of multiple PC games being announced]] on top of being the only ''Diablo''-related thing to be announced in ''years'' since ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', among several other reasons. During the Q&A session, one attendee asked if the game was coming to PC; when told that it wasn't, the audience loudly booed. This prompted the Blizzard rep onstage to reply with a baffled (and baffl''ing'') "Do you guys not have phones?" Blizzard then tried to remove uploads of that part of the stream, as well as one with another attendee asking if the game was an "[[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe out-of-season April Fools' joke]]" (that the crowd audibly jeers and laughs at); and even went to remove and re-upload the announcement trailer, which had garnered over 300,000 dislikes and had numerous comments vilifying the game. It didn't help, and video game news sites reporting on the backlash caused it to spread like wildfire.

** Creator/ShiaLaBeouf and his supporters’ attempts to keep Website/FourChan trolls from interfering with the "He Will Not Divide Us" art piece only attracted the trolls more. [=LaBeouf=]'s escalating attempts to stop his livestreamed work from getting defaced or mocked saw him move it from a public New York area to an undisclosed location in North America (found by 4chan within two days to be in Greeneville, Tennessee), to a blank white room somewhere ''in the world'' (found to be London, England within ''four hours''). The effect eventually petered out once the project left the United States, and continued degrading to the point there was barely any difference between watching the livestream and looking at a .jpg of the phrase, when it became too boring for 4chan to further mess with it, with only a few dedicated trolls keeping an eye on it.

** Planking, which was already on its way to dying off, caught a second wind and spread like wildfire after the media, governments, police, and places of work started to discourage it. Appropriately, the trend died to what is essentially the opposite effect: the Prime Minister of New Zealand posted a picture of his son planking, thus [[TotallyRadical signifying official approval]], which [[DiscreditedMeme immediately discredited it]].

* In September 2023, [[https://youtu.be/XyOSBp3arDo a YouTube video was released]] accusing ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' developer [=YandereDev=] of having groomed a 16-year old girl codenamed "Jane", followed by [[JuryAndWitnessTampering intimidating her into denying the accusations and attempting to prevent its release]]. The video was subsequently hit with a copyright strike revealing "Jane"'s real name, with her later confirming that [=YandereDev=] had done so under her name and without her permission. [=YandereDev=]'s attempts to keep the scandal under wraps merely [[RevealingCoverUp confirmed to many onlookers that he had something to hide]], and they promptly reuploaded archived links to the accusation on websites such as Website/{{Tumblr}} and Website/{{Twitter}} to spread awareness. Although the original video was reinstated a while later, the damage was done -- nearly all of ''Yandere Simulator'''s voice actors and several major crew members quit in solidarity with the allegations, and [=YandereDev=] himself was banned from both Website/{{Twitch}} and Website/{{Discord}}.

* ''Film/IfYouLoveThisPlanet'', an anti-nuclear documentary produced by the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, was suppressed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1982 as "foreign political propaganda". The move backfired, causing a storm of protest that helped the film win the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': In one episode, the murderer has an accomplice steal his victim's mail so that the police don't find the incriminating evidence against him in the mailbox: [[spoiler:a DNA test the victim had done proving that her and the killer's sons were SwitchedAtBirth]]. Beckett lampshades the irony; the police don't typically look into a victim's mail in the first place, so if he'd just left well enough alone, they never would have been the wiser.

* During Masahiro Sakurai's presentation on [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]]'s DLC inclusion in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', Sakurai mentioned that MsFanservice Mai Shiranui would not be appearing as a background character because it would raise the CERO/ESRB ratings, adding "''Smash Bros.'' is for good boys and girls of many different ages".[[note]]Previously, other characters with {{stripperiffic}} designs were {{Bowdlerise}}d so that they weren't quite as skimpy, but Mai is a ProudBeauty who likes showing skin, so changing her design wouldn't fit her character. Also the infamous line was made by the translator.[[/note]] This caused many fans who were unfamiliar with Mai to look her up, and a massive outpour of fan art involving her rejection and her stripperiffic design soon followed on Twitter. Some have even begun to request her as a fighter in spite of the rejection.

* The RIAA demanded the take down ''youtube-dl'', a popular program for downloading videos. The code was hosted on Github and the news became viral. [[https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/angry-youtube-dl-users-flood-github-with-new-repos-after-takedown/ People not knowing of the program's existence has now started looking for it outside of Github while other re-uploaded it in new repos]].