Editing Unintended consequences (section)

===Perverse results===
{{See also|Perverse incentive|Perverse subsidies}}
<!--Do NOT add examples, see talk! There are already too many examples. Discuss in talk first before adding an example. Otherwise it will be removed. -->
In 2003, [[Barbra Streisand]] unsuccessfully sued Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for posting a photograph of her home online.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28562156 |title=The perils of the Streisand effect |newspaper=BBC News |access-date=9 September 2015|date=2014-07-31 |last1=Parkinson |first1=Justin }}</ref> Before the lawsuit had been filed, only 6 people had downloaded the file, two of them Streisand's attorneys.<ref>Tentative ruling, page 6, stating, "Image 3850 was download six times, twice to the Internet address of counsel for plaintiff". In addition, two prints of the picture were ordered — one by Streisand's counsel and one by Streisand's neighbor. http://www.californiacoastline.org/streisand/slapp-ruling-tentative.pdf</ref> The lawsuit drew attention to the image, resulting in 420,000 people visiting the site.<ref name=rogers>{{cite web |url=http://www.californiacoastline.org/news/sjmerc5.html |title=Photo of Streisand home becomes an Internet hit |access-date=2007-06-15 |last=Rogers |first=Paul |date=2003-06-24 |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]]|via= californiacoastline.org}}</ref> The [[Streisand Effect]] was named after this incident, describing when an attempt to censor or remove a certain piece of information instead draws attention to the material being suppressed, resulting in the material instead becoming widely known, reported on, and distributed.<ref name=London>{{cite web |last=Canton |first=David |url=http://www.lfpress.ca/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=111404&x=articles&s=shopping |title=Today's Business Law: Attempt to suppress can backfire |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070927014240/http://www.lfpress.ca/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=111404&x=articles&s=shopping |archive-date=2007-09-27 |work=[[London Free Press]] |date=November 5, 2005 |access-date=July 21, 2007 |quote=The "Streisand effect" is what happens when someone tries to suppress something and the opposite occurs. The act of suppressing it raises the profile, making it much more well known than it ever would have been}}</ref>

Passenger-side [[airbag]]s in motorcars were intended as a safety feature, but led to an increase in child fatalities in the mid-1990s because small children were being hit by airbags that deployed automatically during collisions. The supposed solution to this problem, moving the child seat to the back of the vehicle, led to an increase in the number of children forgotten in unattended vehicles, some of whom died under extreme temperature conditions.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/hot-car-death/ |magazine=Time |first1=Justin |last1=Worland/Ridgefield |title=Who's To Blame For Hot Car Deaths? |date=2014-09-02}}</ref>

Risk compensation, or the [[Risk compensation|Peltzman effect]], occurs after implementation of safety measures intended to reduce injury or death (e.g. bike helmets, seatbelts, etc.). People may feel safer than they really are and take additional risks which they would not have taken without the safety measures in place. This may result in no change, or even an increase, in morbidity or mortality, rather than a decrease as intended.

According to an [[anecdote]], the British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes in [[Delhi]], offered a bounty for every dead cobra. This was a successful strategy as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, enterprising people began breeding cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, they scrapped the reward program, causing the cobra breeders to set the now-worthless snakes free. As a result, the wild cobra population further increased. The apparent solution for the problem made the situation even worse, becoming known as the [[Cobra effect]].

[[Theobald Mathew (temperance reformer)|Theobald Mathew]]'s temperance campaign in 19th-century [[Ireland]] resulted in thousands of people vowing never to drink [[Alcoholic drink|alcohol]] again. This led to the consumption of [[diethyl ether]], a much more dangerous intoxicant—owing to its high flammability—by those seeking to become intoxicated without breaking the letter of their pledge.{{Dubious|date=June 2023}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-eth1.htm |title=Etheromaniac |publisher=World Wide Words |date=2006-09-09 |access-date=2012-11-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://unintendedconsequenc.es/substitutions-temperance-movement-ether/|title=Substitutions - The Temperance Movement and Ether - Unintended Consequences|date=2018-09-16|work=Unintended Consequences|access-date=2018-09-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

It was thought that adding south-facing [[Conservatory (greenhouse)|conservatories]] to British houses would reduce energy consumption by providing extra insulation and warmth from the sun. However, people tended to use the conservatories as living areas, installing heating and ultimately increasing overall energy consumption.<ref>"Our innate ability to think of new ways to use energy" Professor [[Tadj Oreszczyn]]. Summer 2009 edition of 'palette', UCL's journal of sustainable cities.</ref>

A reward for [[ghost net|lost nets]] found along the Normandy coast was offered by the French government between 1980 and 1981. This resulted in people vandalizing nets to collect the reward.<ref>Andres, Von Brandt (1984) ''Fish catching methods of the world'' {{ISBN|978-0-685-63409-7}}.</ref>

Beginning in the 1940s and continuing into the 1960s, the Canadian federal government gave Quebec $2.75 per day per psychiatric patient for their cost of care, but only $1.25 a day per orphan. The perverse result is that the orphan children were diagnosed as mentally ill so Quebec could receive the larger amount of money. This psychiatric misdiagnosis affected up to 20,000 people, and the children are known as the [[Duplessis Orphans]] in reference to the Premier of Quebec who oversaw the scheme, [[Maurice Duplessis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/quebec-ombudsman-says-duplessis-orphans-right-1.173120 |title=CBC |work=google.com |access-date=2 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1WNWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6929%2C5814760 |title=The Spokesman-Review |work=google.com |access-date=9 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DeceAAAAIBAJ&pg=6753%2C1774080 |title=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |work=google.com |access-date=9 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lT9TAAAAIBAJ&pg=6732%2C2759782 |title=The Prescott Courier |work=google.com |access-date=9 September 2015}}</ref>

There have been attempts to curb the consumption of sugary beverages by imposing a tax on them. However, a study found that the reduced consumption was only temporary.<!-- Then how long?  --> Also, there was an increase in the consumption of beer among households.<ref name="Wansink">{{Cite SSRN |last1=Wansink|first1=Brian|last2=Hanks|first2=Andrew S.|last3=Just|first3=David R.|date=2012-05-26|title=From Coke to Coors: A Field Study of a Fat Tax and Its Unintended Consequences|ssrn=2079840}}</ref>

The [[New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law]], which was intended to protect children from accidental discharge of firearms by forcing all future firearms sold in [[New Jersey]] to contain [[smart gun|"smart" safety features]], has delayed, if not stopped entirely, the introduction of such firearms to New Jersey markets. The wording of the law caused significant public backlash,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/smartguns-what-you-need-to-know.html |work=Inc. | title=Smartguns: What You Need to Know | date=January 11, 2016 | access-date=January 11, 2016 |author=Joseph Steinberg }}</ref> fuelled by [[National Rifle Association|gun rights lobbyists]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.highbrowmagazine.com/4363-why-nra-opposes-smart-guns | title=Why the NRA Opposes Smart Guns | date=15 October 2014 | access-date=26 December 2015 | author=Trumbly, Katie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5683504/gun-control-the-nra-wants-to-take-smart-guns-away | title=Gun control: the NRA wants to take America's smart guns away | website=[[The Verge]] | date=5 May 2014 | access-date=26 December 2015 | author=Jeffries, Adrianne}}</ref> and several shop owners offering such guns received death threats and stopped stocking them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/california-smart-gun-store-prompts-furious-backlash/2014/03/06/43432058-a544-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html|title=Calif. store backs away from smart guns after outcry from 2nd Amendment activists|first=Michael S.|last=Rosenwald| date =6 March 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name=wp-marylandsmart>{{cite news |first=Michael S. |last=Rosenwald |title=Maryland dealer, under pressure from gun-rights activists, drops plan to sell smart gun |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-dealer-will-defy-gun-rights-advocates-by-selling-nations-first-smart-gun/2014/05/01/564efa48-d14d-11e3-937f-d3026234b51c_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 May 2014 |access-date=8 May 2014}}</ref> In 2014, 12 years after the law was passed, it was suggested the law be repealed if gun rights lobbyists agree not to resist the introduction of "smart" firearms.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Montopoli| first = Brian| title = N.J. Democrat: We will reverse smart gun law if NRA plays ball| work = MSNBC| access-date = 2014-05-22| date = 2014-05-02| url = http://www.msnbc.com/all/democrat-we-will-reverse-smart-gun-law}}</ref>

[[Prohibition of drugs|Drug prohibition]] can lead [[Illegal drug trade|drug traffickers]] to [[Preference (economics)|prefer]] stronger, more dangerous substances, that can be more easily smuggled and distributed than other, less concentrated substances.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0261-3077| last = Kassam| first = Ashifa| title = 'Dose as small as a grain of sand can kill you': alarm after Canada carfentanil bust| work = The Guardian| access-date = 2017-11-12| date = 2017-11-12| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/carfentanil-bust-canada-fentanyl-opioid-crisis-dangers}}</ref>

Televised drug prevention advertisements may lead to increased drug use.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hornik |first1=Robert |last2=Jacobsohn |first2=Lela |last3=Orwin |first3=Robert |last4=Piesse |first4=Andrea |last5=Kalton |first5=Graham |date=December 2008 |title=Effects of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign on Youths |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=98 |issue=12 |pages=2229–2236 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2007.125849 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=2636541 |pmid=18923126}}</ref>

Increasing usage of [[search engine]]s, also including recent [[Image retrieval|image search]] features, has contributed in the ease of which media is consumed. Some [[Abnormal psychology|abnormalities]] in usage may have shifted preferences for pornographic film actors, as the producers began using [[search engine optimization|common search queries or tags]] to label the actors in new roles.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Kline| first = Matthew| title = How SEO has changed the porn industry| work = Mashable| date = 11 August 2017| access-date = 2017-08-12| url = http://mashable.com/2017/08/11/seo-of-porn/}}</ref>

The passage of the [[Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act]] has led to a reported increase in risky behaviors by sex workers as a result of quashing their ability to seek and screen clients online, forcing them back onto the streets or into the [[dark web]]. The ads posted were previously an avenue for advocates to reach out to those wanting to escape the trade.<ref>{{Cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/sesta-fosta-forces-sex-trafficking-victims-streets-dark-web-w520720 |title = New Law Forces Sex-Trafficking Victims to Streets, Dark Web|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = 2018-05-25}}</ref>

The use of [[precision guided munition]]s meant to reduce the rate of [[collateral damage|civilian casualties]] encouraged armies to narrow their safety margins, and increase the use of deadly force in densely populated areas. This in turn increased the danger to uninvolved civilians, who in the past would have been out of the line of fire because of armies' aversion of using higher-risk weaponry in densely populated areas.<ref name="Levi 2019">{{Cite news |last=לוי |first=יגיל |date=2019-12-25 |script-title=he:במערב חשבו שחימוש מדויק יצמצם פגיעה באזרחים. זה לא קרה |language=he |newspaper=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/the-edge/.premium-MAGAZINE-1.8316333 |access-date=2021-05-25}}</ref> The perceived ability to operate precision weaponry from afar (where in the past heavy munitions or troop deployment would have been needed) also led to the expansion of the list of potential targets.<ref name="Levi 2019" /> As put by [[Michael Walzer]]: "Drones not only make it possible for us to get at our enemies, they may also lead us to broaden the list of enemies, to include presumptively hostile individuals and militant organizations simply because we can get at them–even if they aren't actually involved in attacks against us."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walzer |first=Michael |date=2016-09-01 |title=Just & Unjust Targeted Killing & Drone Warfare |journal=Daedalus |volume=145 |issue=4 |pages=12–24 |doi=10.1162/DAED_a_00408 |s2cid=57563272 |issn=0011-5266}}</ref> This idea is also echoed by [[Grégoire Chamayou]]: "In a situation of moral hazard, military action is very likely to be deemed 'necessary' simply because it is possible, and possible at a lower cost."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chamayou |first=Grégoire |title=Drone theory |publisher=Penguin |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-241-97034-8 |location=London |oclc=903527249}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2023}}

After ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'' (2022) overturned ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1973), the number of abortions in the United States increased and the number of births fell, due to the [[Freedom of movement under United States law|right to travel]] between states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/upshot/abortions-rising-state-bans.html|title=Abortions Have Increased, Even for Women in States With Rigid Bans, Study Says|date=October 22, 2024|website=The New York Times|first1=Claire Cain|last1=Miller|first2=Margot|last2=Sanger-Katz|first3=Josh|last3=Katz|access-date=December 2, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion|date=2025|first1=David S.|last1=Cohen|first2=Carole|last2=Joffe|publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0807017661 |quote=When the Supreme Court overturned ''Roe v. Wade'' in June 2022, many feared it meant the end of abortion access in the United States. Yet the courageous work of people on the ground has allowed abortion to survive post-Dobbs in ways that no one predicted. ... Taking place across three intervals throughout 2022—pre-Dobbs in early 2022, right after Dobbs, and then six months later—these interviews showcase how nimble thinking on the part of providers, growth and new delivery models of abortion pills, and the never-ending work of those who help with abortion travel and funding have ensured most people who want them are still getting abortions, even without Roe.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db507.htm|title=Births in the United States, 2023|date=August 2024|access-date=March 14, 2025|website=Centers for Disease Control}}</ref>