Merriam-Webster Jokes About Streisand Effect in May 20 Facebook Post

1 articles · Updated · creators.yahoo.com · Jul 4

Merriam-Webster used a May 20 Facebook post to demonstrate the Streisand effect, writing that it hoped no one would see its definition of the term.
The joke worked because attempts to hide information often draw more attention to it, a backlash tied to psychological reactance.
The term traces to Barbra Streisand's 2003 $50 million lawsuit over an aerial photo of her Malibu home; the image had been downloaded just 6 times before the case and drew more than 400,000 views afterward.
Streisand lost the case and was ordered to pay $177,000 in legal fees, and Techdirt founder Mike Masnick coined "Streisand effect" in 2005.
The pattern still appears widely: a 2023 study found banned books' circulation rose 12% after bans, underscoring how censorship efforts can backfire.