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Blackmail is an act of
coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
using the
threat A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...
of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or 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. These acts can also involve using threats of physical, mental or emotional harm, or of criminal prosecution, against the victim or someone close to the victim. It is normally carried out for personal gain, most commonly of position, money, or property. Blackmail may also be considered a form of
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, a ...
. Although the two are generally synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm. 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. In many jurisdictions, blackmail is a statutory offense, often criminal, carrying punitive sanctions for convicted perpetrators. Blackmail is the name of a
statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by l ...
offense in the United States, England and Wales, and Australia, and has been used as a convenient way of referring to certain other offenses, but was not a term used in
English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...
until 1968.Griew, Edward. ''The Theft Acts 1968 & 1978'', Sweet & Maxwell: London. Fifth Edition, paperback, , paragraph 12-01 at page 183 Blackmail was originally a term from the
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian an ...
meaning payments rendered in exchange for protection from thieves and marauders. The "mail" part of blackmail derives from Middle English meaning "rent or tribute". This tribute (male or ''reditus'') was paid in goods or labour ("nigri"); hence ''reditus nigri'', or "blackmail". Alternatively, it may be derived from two
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
words - to protect; and - tribute or payment.


Etymology

The word blackmail is variously derived from the word for
tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
(in modern terms,
protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vio ...
) paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to
Border Reivers Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their v ...
in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. The "mail" part of blackmail derives from
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
''male'', "rent, tribute". This tribute was paid in goods or labour (''reditus nigri'', or "blackmail"); the opposite is ''blanche firmes'' or ''reditus albi'', or "white rent" (denoting payment by silver). An alternative version is that rents in the
Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian an ...
were often paid in produce of the land, called "greenmail" ('green rent'), suggesting "blackmail" as a counterpart paid perforce to the reivers. Alternatively, Mackay derives it from two
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
words ''blathaich'' pronounced (the th silent) bla-ich (to protect) and ''mal'' (tribute, payment), cf.
buttock mail Buttock mail was the colloquial term for a Scottish Poor Law tax which was introduced in 1595. Enforced by the ecclesiastical courts who had responsibility for the moral behaviour of the laity, buttock mail was levied as a fine for sexual interco ...
. He notes that the practice was common in the
Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sc ...
as well as the
Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
. In the
Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and wa ...
, the term ''cíos dubh'', meaning "black-rent", has also been employed.


Objections to criminalization

Some scholars have argued that blackmail should not be a crime. 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. This observation has been rebutted by pointing out that while drinking alcohol and driving are both legal separately, their
combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are t ...
s are not.


Sextortion (Webcam Blackmail)

Sextortion Sextortion (a portmanteau of '' sex'' and ''extortion'') employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual favors from the victim. Sextortion refers to the broad category of sexual exploitation in which abuse of power is the means of coercio ...
has been linked and is popular among people who are considered to have power or a position of power (in any form) in any field such as politics, education, and the workplace. Sextortion, by definition, is a form of blackmail where power is abused and used to extort sexual favors or images from someone in exchange for something that the victim wants/needs like a job or grade. An example of this is Webcam Blackmail. "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.


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.


See also

*
Abusive power and control Abusive power and control (also controlling behavior and coercive control) is behavior used by an abusive person to gain and/or maintain control over another person. Abusers are commonly motivated by devaluation, personal gain, personal gratifi ...
* Blind item *
Emotional blackmail Emotional blackmail and FOG are terms popularized by psychotherapist Susan Forward about controlling people in relationships and the theory that fear, obligation and guilt (FOG) are the transactional dynamics at play between the controller and t ...
*
Espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
* FBI Files on Elvis Presley *
Graymail Graymail is the threatened revelation of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings. It is distinct from blackmail, which may include threats of revelation against, and manipulation of, any private individual. Graymail is used as a d ...
*
Greenmail Greenmail or greenmailing is the action of purchasing enough shares in a firm to challenge a firm's leadership with the threat of a hostile takeover to force the target company to buy the purchased shares back at a premium in order to prevent the ...
*
Loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
*
Nuclear blackmail Nuclear blackmail is a form of nuclear strategy in which an aggressor uses the threat of use of nuclear weapons to force an adversary to perform some action or make some concessions. It is a type of extortion that is related to brinkmanship. Effe ...
*
Pizzo (extortion) The pizzo () is protection money paid to the Mafia often in the form of a forced transfer of money resulting from extortion. The term is derived from the Sicilian ''pizzu'' ('beak'). To ''let someone whet their beak'' (Sicilian language ''fari ...
* Webcam blackmail * Whitemail ;In film * ''Blackmail'', (1920 film) * ''Blackmail'', (1929 film) *''
Psychoville ''Psychoville'' is a British psychological horror- thriller black comedy mystery television series created and written by and starring ''The League of Gentlemen'' members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the BBC. It debuted on BBC Two ...
'', British psychological horror-thriller black comedy mystery television series.


Notes


References

* Baker, Dennis J., ''Glanville Williams Textbook of Criminal Law''. Sweet & Maxwell: London. (2005) . * Criminal Law Revision Committee. 8th Report. Theft and Related Offences. Cmnd. 2977 * Griew, Edward. ''Theft Acts 1968 & 1978'', Sweet & Maxwell: London. * * Ormerod, David. ''Smith and Hogan Criminal Law'', LexisNexis: London. (2005) * Smith, J. C. ''Law of Theft'', LexisNexis: London. (1997)


External links

* * {{Authority control Border Reivers Crimes Illegal occupations Middle English Organized crime activity