Blackmail

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Blackmailed
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Blackmail is an act of coercion using a threat.

As a criminal offence, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a threat to do something that would cause a person to suffer embarrassment or financial loss.[1] In the Commonwealth by contrast it is wider: for example the laws of England and Wales and Northern Ireland state that:

A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces...[2][3]

In popular culture, 'blackmail' involves a threat to reveal or publicize either

false information
about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to family members or associates rather than to the general public.

Acts of blackmail can also involve using threats of physical, mental or emotional harm, or of criminal prosecution, against the victim or someone close to the victim.[4][5] It is normally carried out for personal gain, most commonly of position, money, or property.[4][6][7][8]

Blackmail may also be considered a form of extortion.[4] Although the two are generally synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm.[9] Blackmail is the use of threat to prevent another from engaging in a lawful occupation and writing libelous letters or letters that provoke a breach of the peace, as well as use of intimidation for purposes of collecting an unpaid debt.[10]

In many jurisdictions, blackmail is a statutory offence, often criminal, carrying punitive sanctions for convicted perpetrators. Blackmail is the name of a

English law until 1968.[12]

Blackmail was originally a term from the Scottish Borders meaning payments rendered in exchange for protection from thieves and marauders.[6][10][13] The "mail" part of blackmail derives from Middle English male meaning "rent or tribute".[14] This tribute (male or reditus) was paid in goods or labour ("nigri"); hence reditus nigri, or "blackmail".

Etymology

Blackmail note intended for the Jewish Capon-Minerbo family in hiding during the Axis occupation of Greece

The word blackmail is variously derived from the word for

black rent
", was used for similar exactions.

Objections to criminalization

Some scholars have argued that blackmail should not be a crime.[16][17][18][19] Objections to the criminalization of blackmail often rest on what legal scholars call "the paradox of blackmail": it takes two separate actions that, in many cases, people are legally and morally entitled to do, and criminalizes them if done together. One American legal scholar uses the example of a person who threatens to expose a criminal act unless he is paid money. The person has committed the crime of blackmail, even though he separately has the legal right both to threaten to expose a crime and to request money from a person.[20]

Sextortion (webcam blackmail)

Sextortion the rise of social media blackmail has been observed, which is popular among individuals deemed to hold power or authority in fields like politics, education, and the workplace. Sextortion, constituting a form of blackmail, is employed to exploit this power and coerce victims into providing sexual favors or explicit images in exchange for desired outcomes such as job security or academic advancement. A common instance of this is webcam blackmail/ Snapchat[21]/ Whatsapp and other Social media platforms.

"Criminals might befriend victims online by using a fake identity and then persuade them to perform sexual acts in front of their webcam, often by using an attractive woman to entice the victim to participate. These women may have been coerced into these actions using financial incentives or threats." As reported by the NCA (National Crime Agency), both men and women can be victims of this crime. This crime can be carried out by either crime groups or individuals.[22]

Cybercrime

Dubai Police in the UAE stated that there have been 2,606 crimes that involve blackmail in the past three years. The reason it is so easy to commit these crimes online is the anonymity the internet gives. It is far easier and encouraging to commit crimes whenever personal identity is hidden. People have the opportunity to give in to temptation since they are anonymous and possibly commit criminal acts such as blackmailing. The ability to be anonymous encourages antisocial tendencies and the ability to spread fake news.[23] The frequency of cybercrime is astonishing. In 2023 alone, an estimated 33 billion accounts are expected to be breached,[24] translating to approximately 2,328 cybercrimes per day or 97 victims every hour. This indicates that cybercriminals are relentless in their pursuit of targets, with hacker attacks occurring every 39 seconds[24]
on average.

See also

In film

Notes

  1. ^ Blackmail Law: Justicia
  2. ^ Section 21(1) Theft Act 1968
  3. ^ Section 20(1) Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969
  4. ^ . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  5. ^ The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Blackmail". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  7. . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  8. . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  9. .
  10. ^ . Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Legislation View Page". thelaw.tas.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  12. , paragraph 12-01 at page 183
  13. ^ "Dictionary of the Scots Language:: SND :: black mail". Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b Maeve Maddox (10 May 2011). "The Difference Between Extortion and Blackmail". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  15. ^ Mackay, Charles; Ramsay, Allan; May, G. (1888). "Black-mail". A dictionary of Lowland Scotch, with an introductory chapter on the poetry, humour, and literary history of the Scottish language and an appendix of Scottish proverbs. London: Whittaker. pp. 10–12.
  16. ^ Lindgren (1984), p. 670: "Most crimes do not need theories to explain why the behavior is criminal. The wrongdoing is self-evident. But blackmail is unique among major crimes: no one has yet figured out why it ought to be illegal."
  17. ^ Block, Walter, "Blackmail as a Victimless Crime Archived 8 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine," with Robert McGee, Bracton Law Journal, Vol. 31, pp. 24–28 (1999)
  18. ^ Block, Walter, "Blackmailing for Mutual Good: A Reply to Russell Hardin Archived 19 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine," Vermont Law Review, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 121–141 (1999)
  19. S2CID 5684396
  20. ^ Lindgren (1984), pp. 670–71.
  21. ^ Sextortion (webcam blackmail). (n.d.). In Blackmail. Retrieved August 8, 2023, from https://answerbob.com/how-to-report-blackmail-on-snapchat/ Blackmail (Snapchat blackmail)
  22. ^ "Sextortion (webcam blackmail) - National Crime Agency". nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk. 3 May 2023. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  23. ^ "The internet really can bring out the worst in people". The National. 31 March 2019. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Study: Hackers Attack Every 39 Seconds".

References

External links