Have you ever heard of the “Streisand Effect?”
“It is named after the inimitable, multi-talented performer Barbra Streisand.
Ten years ago, citing invasion-of-privacy laws, she sued a photographer, demanding that he remove an innocent, aerial photograph of her house from his website.
At that point, the picture had only been viewed a grand total of four times.
During the trial (which Streisand lost), the exact thing that she was trying to prevent, became her reality - the image was viewed nearly half a million times in just one month.
Had she done nothing, that image may have remained unnoticed to this day.
There have been numerous similar incidents where people, companies and governments took legal action to try and suppress information, only to draw even more unwanted attention to it. And the internet has made the spread of that information quick, easy and virtually irreversible.
I am telling you this, because the Streisand Effect is what brought the “Burning Flag Debacle” to my attention.
I only became aware of it when President Cyril Ramaphosa harshly criticised it as an act of treason.
I have previously said that the president’s words carry a lot of weight and it can bring attention to a topic that many people may otherwise have ignored.
But if not supported by concrete evidence of practiced ethics, such words tumble down what appears to be a moral high ground, but is in fact the slippery slope on the shallow hill of hypocrisy.
In this case, the words are directed at the DA’s election advertisement, which shows a slow and dramatic burning of the South African flag.
Meant to signify the country’s burning, it inflamed many and caused immediate outrage in certain quarters, which in turn inspired the internet’s parody king, The Kiffness, to make a satirical song about it, to the tune of the 80’s hit “Beds are Burning.”
The SABC has subsequently announced that it will not be airing the offending ad. And as everybody knows from history, when the SABC bans something, then it must be worth the effort of finding and sharing it.
Another development is that - not satisfied with the crimen injuria charges he laid with the SAPS, the ANC’s former Tshwane leader, Kgosi Maepa is planning to write letters of complaint to the Human Rights Commission, the IEC, the Independent Communications Authority and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.
All of which will of course provide the ad with even more momentum, giving it a longer life, with much broader reach than the DA could ever have hoped or paid for.
And considering the prevailing feelings of despair about the state of our country, coupled with the ANC’s dive in popularity, I’m afraid many people will agree with the video’s metaphorical intent, if not it’s sentiments.
But the attempts to gag and guilt-trip the DA into withdrawing the ad may just strengthen such lingering sentiments, of a ruling party with misdirected principles that has steadily eroded our faith in them, and whose moral compass is stuck on the true north of self-enrichment.
You may not like how the DA said it, but what was said isn’t completely wrong. And everybody knows … the truth hurts.
And the louder the ANC screams in pain, the more they help to spread the DA’s message.
In fact, if you think about it, and if this is the very first time you hear about this issue, then this very article is both a result of, and a contributor to “The Streisand Effect.”
Nicely played DA.