What is the Streisand effect?

The Streisand effect is a phenomenon where attempts to censor or hide information amplify attention to it. The term originated from Barbra Streisand 's 2003 lawsuit against a photographer for capturing her California home in a collection of coastal photos. Streisand's attempt to suppress the image inadvertently drew massive attention to it. Before the lawsuit, the photograph had been downloaded only a few times. Following publicity surrounding the case, it was viewed by hundreds of thousands. This phenomenon isn't new, with a similar concept expressed in the Chinese idiom "trying to cover things up only makes them more evident".

Where did the term 'Streisand effect' come from?

The term "Streisand effect" originated from Barbra Streisand 's 2003 lawsuit against photographer Kenneth Adelman, who had captured aerial photos of her Malibu beach house while documenting the California coastline. Streisand sued for $50 million, claiming the photo violated her privacy and threatened her security. Ironically, this action drew far more attention to the image. Before the lawsuit, the photograph had been downloaded only six times but, after news of the lawsuit broke, it was viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Writer Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com coined the term "Streisand effect" in 2005 to describe attempts to suppress information online that instead amplify it .

How does trying to hide information sometimes lead to the Streisand effect?

The Streisand effect occurs when an attempt to hide or censor information inadvertently draws more attention to it. This happens because the act of suppression can incite public outrage and curiosity, especially if people perceive it as an attack on free speech by a powerful entity. Barbra Streisand's 2003 lawsuit against a photographer for posting a photo of her mansion online is a classic example. Although the photo had only been downloaded a few times before the suit, the publicity surrounding the case led to hundreds of thousands of views. This demonstrates how efforts to suppress information can backfire, making the information far more visible than it would have been otherwise.

Can you give an example of the Streisand effect happening in real life?

The Streisand effect is when trying to suppress or hide something brings more attention to it. A real-world example of the Streisand effect is when Barbra Streisand sued a photographer in 2003 for taking and posting online a photo of her mansion along the California coast. Before the lawsuit, the photo had been downloaded only a few times. But after news of the lawsuit spread, the photo was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. Streisand's attempt to remove the photo made it much more popular.

Why does public attention often increase when people try to remove online content?

The Streisand effect is a phenomenon where attempts to censor or hide online content ironically increase public attention. This occurs because the act of suppression often triggers public outrage, especially when perceived as a powerful entity stifling free speech. The attempt to censor can also pique curiosity, driving people to seek out the suppressed information to judge it themselves. The term originated from Barbra Streisand 's 2003 lawsuit to remove an aerial photo of her residence from the internet. Ironically, the lawsuit drew far more attention to the image than it had received before.

How can understanding the Streisand effect help people manage information better online?

The Streisand effect demonstrates that attempts to suppress information online can paradoxically amplify it. Recognizing this phenomenon can help individuals and organizations manage information more effectively. Instead of directly trying to censor or hide content, which often backfires by drawing more attention, a better approach involves strategic communication. When dealing with sensitive information, consider the potential consequences of attempts at suppression; assess whether addressing the issue directly or ignoring it would be more effective. Promoting truthful information can help counter disinformation.

Streisand effect

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Barbra Streisand in 2010, wearing a layered necklace and a black jacket, with straight shoulder-length hair, smiling slightly at an event.

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Streisand effect

sociology

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Alison Eldridge

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Last updated

Sep. 25, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is the Streisand effect?
The Streisand effect is a phenomenon where attempts to censor or hide information amplify attention to it. The term originated from Barbra Streisand's 2003 lawsuit against a photographer for capturing her California home in a collection of coastal photos.

Streisand's attempt to suppress the image inadvertently drew massive attention to it. Before the lawsuit, the photograph had been downloaded only a few times. Following publicity surrounding the case, it was viewed by hundreds of thousands. This phenomenon isn't new, with a similar concept expressed in the Chinese idiom "trying to cover things up only makes them more evident".
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where did the term 'Streisand effect' come from?
The term "Streisand effect" originated from Barbra Streisand's 2003 lawsuit against photographer Kenneth Adelman, who had captured aerial photos of her Malibu beach house while documenting the California coastline.

Streisand sued for $50 million, claiming the photo violated her privacy and threatened her security. Ironically, this action drew far more attention to the image. Before the lawsuit, the photograph had been downloaded only six times but, after news of the lawsuit broke, it was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Writer Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com coined the term "Streisand effect" in 2005 to describe attempts to suppress information online that instead amplify it.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Words We're Watching: 'Streisand Effect'
2. Barbra Streisand
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How does trying to hide information sometimes lead to the Streisand effect?
The Streisand effect occurs when an attempt to hide or censor information inadvertently draws more attention to it. This happens because the act of suppression can incite public outrage and curiosity, especially if people perceive it as an attack on free speech by a powerful entity.

Barbra Streisand's 2003 lawsuit against a photographer for posting a photo of her mansion online is a classic example. Although the photo had only been downloaded a few times before the suit, the publicity surrounding the case led to hundreds of thousands of views. This demonstrates how efforts to suppress information can backfire, making the information far more visible than it would have been otherwise.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Can you give an example of the Streisand effect happening in real life?
The Streisand effect is when trying to suppress or hide something brings more attention to it.

A real-world example of the Streisand effect is when Barbra Streisand sued a photographer in 2003 for taking and posting online a photo of her mansion along the California coast. Before the lawsuit, the photo had been downloaded only a few times. But after news of the lawsuit spread, the photo was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. Streisand's attempt to remove the photo made it much more popular.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why does public attention often increase when people try to remove online content?
The Streisand effect is a phenomenon where attempts to censor or hide online content ironically increase public attention. This occurs because the act of suppression often triggers public outrage, especially when perceived as a powerful entity stifling free speech. The attempt to censor can also pique curiosity, driving people to seek out the suppressed information to judge it themselves.

The term originated from Barbra Streisand's 2003 lawsuit to remove an aerial photo of her residence from the internet. Ironically, the lawsuit drew far more attention to the image than it had received before.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How can understanding the Streisand effect help people manage information better online?
The Streisand effect demonstrates that attempts to suppress information online can paradoxically amplify it. Recognizing this phenomenon can help individuals and organizations manage information more effectively. Instead of directly trying to censor or hide content, which often backfires by drawing more attention, a better approach involves strategic communication.

When dealing with sensitive information, consider the potential consequences of attempts at suppression; assess whether addressing the issue directly or ignoring it would be more effective. Promoting truthful information can help counter disinformation.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Streisand effect, phenomenon in which an attempt to censor, hide, or otherwise draw attention away from something only serves to attract more attention to it. The name derives from American singer and actress Barbra Streisand’s lawsuit against a photographer in 2003, which drew attention to the photo she was suing to have taken off the Internet.

Streisand’s lawsuit was filed against photographer Kenneth Adelman, the founder of the California Coastal Records Project, for which he photographed the coastline of the state from a helicopter and posted the photos to the Internet. Adelman indicated that the images were free for nonprofit use and had been used by government entities for scientific research. Among more than 12,000 photographs of California’s coast was one photograph in which Streisand’s mansion appeared. Streisand, who had in the past been harassed and stalked by fans, sued for $50 million, claiming that the photo violated her privacy and showed how to access her residence.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the photograph had been downloaded only six times, including twice by Streisand’s lawyers. The lawsuit was highly publicized, and a flurry of interest and activity followed. In the month after the filing, the photo was viewed more than 400,000 times and reposted on news sites and elsewhere on the Internet. Thus, Streisand’s attempts to have the photo suppressed made it exceptionally more visible than it would otherwise have been. Streisand lost the suit and was ordered to pay Adelman’s legal fees for the case. The photo remains widely published on the Internet.

The phenomenon was not dubbed the “Streisand effect,” however, until two years later. In a post on the Techdirt blog, founder Mike Masnick describes a cease and desist order that the Marco Beach Ocean Resort, Marco Island, Florida, issued to a website named Urinal.net. The order indicated that the website had violated federal laws for posting information about one of the hotel’s urinals, which the website claimed could be seen from the hotel’s lobby. In the concluding statement of his post, Masnick asks:

How long is it going to take before lawyers realize that the simple act of trying to repress something they don’t like online is likely to make it so that something that most people would never, ever see…is now seen by many more people? Let’s call it the Streisand Effect.

The phenomenon existed before Streisand’s lawsuit. It is described by the Chinese idiom yù gài mí zhāng, which loosely translates to “trying to cover things up only makes them more evident.” The advent of the Internet, however, contributed to the effect’s proliferation. In 2012 a U.K. high court ordered five Internet service providers to ban access to The Pirate Bay, a Swedish file-sharing site, and the subsequent media coverage of the ruling caused visits to the site to increase by more than 10 million. In another case, from 2013, France’s domestic spy agency, Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI), contacted the editors of Wikipedia requesting the revision of an article about Pierre-sur-Haute, a French air force base. The DCRI claimed that the article contained classified information. The Wikimedia Foundation refused the request, stating that they did not have enough information about the supposed violation. Later the DCRI allegedly forced a Wikipedia volunteer to delete the entry entirely or face arrest (the article was soon restored to the site by another volunteer). News of the saga spread across the Internet, and the Pierre-sur-Haute article subsequently became the most-viewed entry on the French version of Wikipedia.

Scholars have noted that censorship often backfires when the public perceives an attempt by a powerful person or organization to repress free speech. It can incite public outrage, especially if the story involves an underdog. Moreover, attempted censorship can spur curiosity. The banning of books and websites, for instance, often drives further interest in them. People tend to want to judge for themselves what is objectionable about something that has been singled out for suppression.

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