- The Streisand effect is a social phenomenon where attempts to hide or remove information from public view lead to increased public awareness of that information.
- Barbara Streisand sued the Adelmans to have “Image 3850” removed because she believed it violated her privacy by showing her Malibu home.
- Before the lawsuit, “Image 3850” had been downloaded only six times; after the lawsuit became a media story, it was viewed more than 420,000 times in one month.
- Streisand’s attempt to suppress the image backfired because trying to hide information on the Internet often creates greater interest and motivates people to seek it out.
- The passage explains psychological reactance — the tendency to do the opposite of what is forbidden — as the psychological mechanism behind the Streisand effect.
- Streisand lost her lawsuit and was ordered to pay $155,567 in legal fees to the Adelmans.
- A better way for Streisand to minimize loss of privacy would have been to ignore the photo or respond calmly, rather than suing, which drew massive attention to the image.
- She should have responded to the Adelman’s website by not engaging legally or publicly, since silence or non-confrontation would have prevented the viral spread of the image.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of informational text comprehension worksheet.
