History Main / CantStopTheSignal

* The climax of ''Film/TheNet''.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusumeNiTeODasuNa'': Athena retired from being a superheroine 20 years ago, due to constantly being subjected to sexual harassment and [[spoiler: because [[RapeAsBackstory she was gang raped]]]]. Her friend, Hanna, used her connections as commander of N.U.D.E.[[note]]"Next Ultimate Defense Exports"[[/note]] to cover up those events and silenced any witnesses. But things are different in her daughter's day and age, thanks to the prevalence of the internet and social media. Athena fears what could happen to Clara's reputation as a heroine if she were to suffer the same humiliation she endured, especially if anyone were to broadcast it. So she comes out of retirement to keep it from happening.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusumeNiTeODasuNa'': Athena retired from being a superheroine 20 years ago, due to constantly being subjected to sexual harassment and [[spoiler: because [[RapeAsBackstory she was raped]]]]. Her friend, Hanna, used her connections as commander of N.U.D.E.[[note]]"Next Ultimate Defense Experts"[[/note]] to cover up those events and silenced any witnesses. But things are different in her daughter's day and age, thanks to the prevalence of the internet and social media. Athena fears what could happen to Clara's reputation as a heroine if she were to suffer the same humiliation she endured, especially if anyone were to broadcast it. So she comes out of retirement to keep it from happening.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's short story "Literature/TheDeadPast". A man discovers the secret of chronoscopy (a machine that can view the past), which has been placed under government control. He releases the information to several publicity outlets so it will become public, then learns ''why'' the government suppressed it. It can look at any place at any sufficiently recent time... which means there is no privacy, since there are no limitations on how ''close'' to the present it can look. The government knew about this before (it was their motivation for their draconian rules, the intent being to keep it out of most hands and [per their representative's statements] unused, but once the protagonists invent a cheap and simple way to duplicate the technology and spread it widely, everyone can look at anyone at any time. The government even admits that their own agents have used it for indiscreet purposes.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's short story "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past The Dead Past]]". A man discovers the secret of chronoscopy (a machine that can view the past), which has been placed under government control. He releases the information to several publicity outlets so it will become public, then learns ''why'' the government suppressed it. It can look at any place at any sufficiently recent time... which means there is no privacy, since there are no limitations on how ''close'' to the present it can look. The government knew about this before (it was their motivation for their draconian rules, the intent being to keep it out of most hands and [per their representative's statements] unused, but once the protagonists invent a cheap and simple way to duplicate the technology and spread it widely, everyone can look at anyone at any time. The government even admits that their own agents have used it for indiscreet purposes.

* Subverted in the mini-series ''For The Greater Good''. A politician's secretary leaks a Cabinet document to a newspaper, but not only do their lawyers advise them not to use it because they could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act, they actually send the papers back to the Cabinet office. The whistleblower is justly infuriated because this risks exposing her. She then has to try and find a sympathetic politician who can raise the matter in Parliament, allowing the press to legally comment on it.

** Averted in ''The Detachment''. Rain discovers a GovernmentConspiracy to launch a FalseFlagOperation in the United States and asks his friend in the CIA why he can't just leak it to the newspapers. He points out that the New York Times has changed a lot since the Watergate days, and that they sat on the story of illegal domestic surveillance until after the election.

* Literature/JohnRain finds himself up against this problem with the MacGuffin, a computer disk with a list of Japanese officials involved in corruption. Due to the nature of the Japanese media, no-one will touch such a potentially divisive story, so Rain gives the disk to a US journalist who can publish the story overseas, allowing the Japanese media to comment on it. Unfortunately the journalist is then murdered, putting them back to square one.

* In Literature/AncillaryJustice, Breq's plan for revenge against [[TheEmperor Anaander Mianaai]] is to reveal his secret actions to ''himself'', leaving him unable to deny the [[SplitPersonality split]] in the HiveMind that composes him. This succeeds, plunging the Anaander Mianaai into civil war against the other parts of himself.

* Averted in ''Series/{{V 1983}}''. IntrepidReporter Mike Donovan gets proof on video that the Visitors aren't friendly HumanAliens who come in peace, but mice-swallowing reptilians planning to TakeOverTheWorld. He gets the tape to the broadcast studio, and just as they're about to tell the world, all the stations cut out for a 'special announcement' that the Visitors have taken 'temporary' control of the media for our own good. In the follow-up series, LaResistance rip off a Visitor's face on live television. The Visitors claim it's a fake and show the 'real' broadcast the next day.

* In MassEffect continuity, this is the Refuse ending. The galaxy is being swarmed by a techno-horror HordeOfAlienLocusts led by [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] that destroy every advanced civilization in a cyclical manner. The PlayerCharacter has the option to rewire them, but all of the possible choices involve great sacrifice and loss. Or the PlayerCharacter can simply refuse to accept any of their choices - and then the bad guys win, all technologically advanced life is destroyed, but not before one of the TrueCompanions executes her plan to FlingALightIntoTheFuture. She does so not on a single planet, but on many planets that harbor intelligent (or potentially intelligent) life, with smart programs to aid decryption by any who find it and incredible volumes of data that would propel a society almost instantly to a space-faring one. This ensures the next invasion is the last one.

* Subverted in the mini-series ''For The Greater Good''. A politician's secretary leaks a Cabinet document to a newspaper, but not only do their lawyers advise them not to use it because they could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act, they actually send the papers back to the Cabinet office. The whistleblower is justly infuriated because this risks exposing her.

* ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' ends with this, exposing the program. A SubvertedTrope according to ''Film/TheBourneLegacy'', as the attempt was in fact stopped. In that film, the government is killing off everyone connected to the program. ProfessionalKiller Aaron tells scientist Marta that her only chance for survival is to go public.

* In the final act of ''Film/RogueOne'', [[spoiler:Jyn Erso and her companions travel to an Imperial base on the planet Scarif in order to steal the Death Star schematics and relay them to the Rebel fleet above. All of her companions except Cassian die in the ensuing battle, but during the conflict Jyn reaches a computer on the top of the Citadel Tower and transmits the schematics to the Rebel flagship. Once receiving the plans, the Rebels copy the data and rush to get as far away from the planet as possible, with the Empire in close pursuit. Jyn and Cassian are eventually killed by the Death Star's turbolaser firing on its own base as a failed last resort.]]

Occasionally this is the posthumous revenge of a DeadManWriting. This can be used to subvert a ShootTheShaggyDog ending -- the protagonists achieved nothing and [[HeroicSacrifice died in the attempt]], but it's subsequently revealed that they managed to get the word out, and it might all be worth it in the end. Can also be played [[AmbiguousEnding ambiguously]], with the audience unsure of whether the information gets delivered or not (or whether or not it [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade has any effect]] if it does).

* In ''Film/TheBigHeat'', Mrs. Duncan's arranged to have her husband's suicide note sent to the press in the event of her death. When she does get killed, the published document brings down BigBad Lagana and his empire.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Manga/{{Akumetsu}} uses this ''continuously.'' [[spoiler:And, when the government decides to stop him from broadcasting his final "movie" on hijacked TV signals, he puts it all over the internet.]]

* In ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'', the [[spoiler:remaining]] Module 77 kids use it to expose the Magius to the world by [[spoiler:showing the Dorssian Fuhrer's immortality.]]
** DoubleSubverted. [[spoiler:Cain destroys the terminal, but ARUS President Anderson exposes them anyway. A global upheaval and hunt for the Magius erupts as a result.]]

* ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'' involves Strange's efforts to recover a magical potion which was stolen from him by a pharmaceuticals company intent upon WithholdingTheCure. The CEO winds up dead in a way which looks like suicide by the end of it, and it looks like no one will know what they've done, but one of Strange's allies finds his "[[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade we have to kill 'em all]]" memo to the board of directors and proceed to fax it far and wide.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the TropeNamer -- the heroes use the late [[KnowledgeBroker Mr Universe's]] equipment to broadcast the truth about Miranda and "Pax" to the four corners of the 'verse.
-->'''Mr. Universe''': ''Mal. Guy killed me, Mal. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that? I got a short span here. They destroyed my equipment, but I have a backup unit. Bottom of the complex. Right over the generator. Hard to get to. I know they missed it. They [[TropeNamer can't stop the signal]], Mal. They can never stop the signal.''

* TheMovie of ''HarrisonBergeron''.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': [[spoiler:All of SHIELD's information is unencrypted and leaked online, thus stealing all advantage HYDRA might gain.]] Apparently, it started trending.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->'''Kevyn''': I just spammed something like two thirds of galactic society.
* ''SamAndFuzzy'' has Sam do this to expose vampires to the world as the first step of his plan to strip The Comittee of their power by exposing the various supernatural species living in The Underground. Normally, the Committees enforcers, the Erasers, checks all forms of media and censor or filter out security breaks, but there is a treshold beyond which even they cant cover up the truth. In the vampires case, Sam managed to reveal their existance to dozens of national news crews at once, making it impossible to shut down all of them, as the level of blackout required would just prove that someone is trying to cover things up.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's short story "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past The Dead Past]]". A man discovers the secret of chronoscopy (a machine that can view the past), which has been placed under government control. He releases the information to several publicity outlets so it will become public, then learns ''why'' the government suppressed it: it can be used as an unstoppable spying device ([[ExactWords "the past" includes "one second ago"]]), which means privacy as we know it is ended.
** Of course, the reason he had so much trouble is because the ''government'' had been using it as an unstoppable spying device - releasing the information simply turned the tables on them.

Compare and contrast the villainous counterpart, DoNotAdjustYourSet. See also InformationWantsToBeFree, YouCannotKillAnIdea and IrrevocableOrder.

* Smith from ''Film/ShootEmUp'' does this because [[GenreSavvy he's aware of how this goes in movies]] -- see the page quote. Unfortunately, it's an AvertedTrope-the villains have too much power and keep the news from getting out. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Which is all right for Smith...]]

* Literature/{{Serpico}} makes futile attempts to get his various police superiors and the Mayor's office to do something about police corruption, but it's only when he and his colleagues go to the ''New York Times'' that a proper enquiry is held not only into corruption but how it's allowed to flourish. This only makes Serpico a greater target however.

* Villianous example at the climax of ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance''. The humans win the Battle Of Narak, crushing the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]]. But it's already too late. The Voidbringers have had time to release a magical signal that will transform all the parshmen into Voidbringers, and there are parshmen ''everywhere''. The enemy may have lost twenty or thirty thousand Voidbringers at Narak, but he'll soon have twenty or thirty ''million'' to replace them.

* In ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'', the [[spoiler:remaining]] Module 77 kids use it to expose the Magius to the world by [[spoiler:showing the Dorssian Furher's immortality.]]

* Series/{{Nikita}} often threatens this, but she never actually does it. The problem is that the actions that [[RogueAgent Divison]] carried out could never be released to the world due to all of the problems it would cause.

* Averted, barely, in ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'' only because Duncan uses the quickening to fry Paris' power grid -- and the computer holding the disk which holds information about Immortals and Watchers.

* ''Film/TheNiceGuys'' ultimately fail to [[spoiler:prevent Andrea's murder, but they do find her]] and discover the whistleblowing significance of the porno movie they had thought was just a lead. The rest of the film is about their attempt to keep the last surviving copy out of the hands of [[spoiler:Andrea's killers]].