Recently, the famous singer and actress Barbara Streisand slammed the New York Post for its critical content about President Biden, attempting to dissuade people from consuming the publication’s journalistic content. However, she quickly discovered that her efforts demonstrated the very phenomenon named after her: “The Streisand Effect.”
On Monday, Streisand took to X, where she told her followers that the New York Post was publishing “disinformation” about Biden. She wrote in a short message, “The NY Post is printing lies about President Biden. No other media outlets should amplify its disinformation.”
However, it appears that her efforts to direct people away from the Post completely backfired, as it emboldened users to support the journalistic content. One person shared Grok’s explanation of “The Streisand Effect,” which illustrates how an attempt to suppress or hide something can actually draw more attention to it.
“The Streisand effect is a phenomenon where attempts to hide or suppress information actually result in increased publicity and awareness of that information. It’s like trying to cover up a secret only to have it plastered all over the front page of a newspaper. The term was coined after American singer and actress Barbra Streisand tried to suppress photos of her Malibu mansion, which only led to more people seeking out and sharing those very photos. So, the lesson here is: sometimes the more you try to hide something, the more attention it gets,” according to the explanation from Grok.
Conservative commentator Christopher F. Rufo comically wrote under her post, “I had not heard about this. But now that you’ve brought it to my attention, I will certainly check it out. Thank you, Mrs. Streisand. Your tweets are having a real effect.”
Furthermore, conservative communications strategist Steve Guest added, “Literal Streisand effect,” while sharing a video of Biden on stage with Barrack Obama and Jimmy Kimmel. The clip Guest posted recently generated controversy as it shows Obama grabbing Biden by the hand and appearing to lead him offstage.
Throughout the Biden administration, conservative media has shared various pieces of footage that allegedly highlight the president’s elderly state at the age of 81, along with evidence of diminished cognitive ability. In defense of President Biden, Democrats have seemingly resorted to claiming the videos touted by conservatives are taken out of context or are misleading.
The American Tribune recently reported on comments from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who used the term “cheap fakes” to describe the unfavorable footage of the president. KJP could not call them “deep fakes” as the clips in question are raw footage of Biden.
“There seems to be a sort of a rash of videos that have been edited to make the president appear especially frail or mentally confused. I’m wondering if the White House is especially worried about the fact that this appears to be a pattern that we’re seeing more,” Jean-Pierre was asked at a press briefing.
“Yeah. We, and I think you all have called this the ‘cheap fakes video,’ and that’s exactly what they are. They are cheap fakes video,” she responded. “They are done in bad faith. And, some of your news organizations, have, have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing, the right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem, because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation.”
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