Let’s say you have damaging information about someone.
Is it illegal to let them know that you have it and threaten to divulge it, by simply stating that you have the power to do so? Without actually asking for anything in exchange for your silence. All it would really do is send them into a state of panic at most.
Comments
Congratulations! From this point forward whatever you do will count as “premeditated”!
I believe the threat in-itself would be considered an extortion since they would inherently feel the need to owe or pay you off, if that makes sense.
“I have a gun pointed at you!” kind of forces them to say “Please don’t shoot!”
Yes, it is illegal to threaten anyone into silence over anything of value, even information.
Yeah
Wouldn’t be blackmail by definition but could fall into another category like harassment depending on the exact circumstances
That’s intimidation/harassment/assault/making threats/etc depending on the jurisdiction
Depending on the local law, an element of extortion is asking for something or getting the person to do something. In Canada for example, from the Criminal Code:
> 346 (1) Every one commits extortion who, without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain anything, by threats, accusations, menaces or violence induces or attempts to induce any person, whether or not he is the person threatened, accused or menaced or to whom violence is shown, to do anything or cause anything to be done.
So, revealing that you have information is likely not extortion. However, saying that you have information and telling them that you may do something might be considered an attempt to induce behaviour.
It depends. If there is some reason to think you actually are asking something even though you don’t say it outright that can still qualify in many jurisdictions.
If someone has done something illegal or immoral, why not just call them out publicly?
The fact that a person would offer to keep silent IF…pretty much screams blackmail.
Can count as libel
Oh man, if I had some shit on someone there’s no way I’d post about it. Too many normies out here trying to do grease ball shit
It’s never been illegal,
It’s when you get caught that it becomes illegal
There is an implied threat in that case. It’s the same thing as saying “I have a gun and I could use it against you”. The natural implication is that the act is coercive in some way. There is some gray area though. You are perfectly within your rights to say “I know about the affair, I’m going to tell your spouse.” It’s also legal for the person to suggest paying you not to disclose information. But you’d have to be really careful, because anything that looks like it’s coercive can be blackmail.
If you’re withholding evidence of a crime from the proper authorities, you’re committing a crime. If someone’s cheating, tell the person being cheated on.
If not those two things, who cares?
Either you tell them what you know or hold it secret forever, don’t hang the sword of Damocles over their head.
Yes it is. For the exact reason you stated.
Even better if the information you have is evidence they committed a crime.
black mail and extortion have specific legal definitions… Different in each state though same may be similar, and some states may not even call it either of those things. Best to just google…. what is this state’s definiton of black mail
Yes its called coercion
It wouldn’t be extortion if you aren’t seeking anything in return. At a minimum it could be harassment. Depending on if they perceive the info leak as life threatening or putting them in a position where they are in danger then it could be menacing? But that’d be a stretch.
It’s illegal to share porn of someone without their consent even if you obtained it legally, so the appropriate action in such a case would be for the victim to call the cops. Same if you obtained something illegally like by hacking a doctor’s files. Something you obtained legally that’s not protected like a photo taken in a public place of them having an affair? Not giving a specific demand isn’t gonna fly as a defense, just like how a discriminatory rental policy still isn’t allowed even though it doesn’t outright say “no blacks/Hispanics/gays allowed.”
I don’t think that would be considered blackmail though
I am quite upset by your user name. Nothing else, just upset.
You sound like a terrible person
It feels like just telling them you know could get the same effect without saying anything about telling anyone else. As long as you don’t insinuate anything you are just telling them you know something.
You never know the lengths someone might go to in order to keep something quiet though so it seems like a bad idea to open yourself up to needless risk of harm
Blackmail is legally defined as a demand made alongside a threat and is usually prosecuted under theft legislation. Without the demand, it’s a non-starter.
It would probably be covered by other, milder legislation though.
These are the elements of blackmail in California. So, no. You are not blackmailing them. Yet.
The offence is ‘making unwarranted demands with menaces’, the offence is complete at the point of doing so.
If you’re not desiring a criminal outcome, why would you engage in illegal behavior?
I just gave my opinion of what they are doing, then stated it would be unfortunate if blank was commonly known. I made no threats and didn’t get screwed over by their double standard.
Your usingv2 different terms in your description.
Blackmail is way different then extortion. To extort has different criteria.
Now to say you have information that’ll incriminate to a crime and not report it creates you as accessory after the fact. So you are now an accessory if you don’t report them.
Now if you have information about something civil and not criminal is wzy different. Let’s say you know he’s cheating on his wife. Then you tell him but do nothing else. Buddies do that all the time.
“Hey Jason i saw you coming out of no tell with that blonde gal. Your wife’s a brunette.”
Unless there’s a demand for something it’s not a crime. So is it criminal or civil? This makes the difference. But for it to be blackmail or extortion requires you to create a demand for something. The way it’s done creates the blackmail or extortion.
So it depends on civil or criminal information. If civil like a cheater you might just be being a jerk wanting to shame him. If criminal and no demands you might be prosecuted as accessory after the fact.
From what I can tell 18 U.S. Code § 873 only specifies that it’s illegal to demand something in return for not sharing whatever it is you have.
That being said, what you described could easily be a different crime of some sort.
Protip: You don’t actually go to jail for committing crimes. You actually just go to jail because a prosecutor can convince a jury you committed crimes.
That’s not blackmail, that’s taunting.
I mean, I think it’s fair to ask because judges take your character into context – how much semen are you drinking?
start with, wouldn’t it be weird and then say the thing that will make them know
I think on its face it’s legal but proving that you don’t want anything in return is going to be very difficult and maybe impossible. Reasonable people would ask if you are going to divulge that information, you should have a good reason to do so on its own. And if that reason does not involve extortion, why would you tell the person whose information you have before divulging that information? That alone sounds like you want them to do something. If it has no impact on whether you tell the public, why not just tell the police or the public the information before you notify the person?
Then that’s not a “threat.” A threat is “do ____ or I will _____.” If you’re just saying “I will ______,” that’s more of a statement of fact, and that just comes down to whether or not what you have was legally acquired. Like if you take pictures of someone out in public holding hands and kissing a person that isn’t their spouse, it isn’t illegal for you to have taken that photo (they were in public) and you absolutely could let them know that you’re sending the photo to their partner.
Is it information about something illegal? You may be an accessory after the fact if you fail to divulge it correctly.
Harassment, for sure. Coercion is a thing that can apply even if you dont expect anything other than to cause Emotional Damage.
Even letting it be known is probably not smart cause that’s where the crime happened; How did you get this Information is the Next Question. By the time folks are done asking questions, depending on where you are; You’re getting more than a Blackmail and Extortion Charge, you’ll probably be hit with Conspiracy.
Depending on where you live this might still be violation of privacy or anti-harrassment laws.
When my pastor said I had to consent to his private counseling sessions to fix my gay or else he’d tell my fam I’m gay and they’d never love me again….. Yea it was blackmail.
Yeah. My ex did that to me all the time. She wanted my house and car.
Might be dancing with deformation of character.
well technically its not blackmail or extortion if you arent trying to get anything out of it. But in theory you could be charged with something else like harassment or invasion of privacy depending on how exactly you go about it.
Although theoretically if you didnt ask for anything but the person youre holding leverage over gives you something to buy your silence without you asking, its probably still not blackmail but would make for a very entertaining court case.
Depends what you know and how you approach it. “I know you’re a pedo” works well, if they’re a pedo. But “I know you’re a pedo, so I’m gonna fuck your life up”, less so. Gotta approach it professionally.
Anything is legal if you don’t get caught
Not illegal in any way. Not blackmail, not harassment, not intimidation, not anything.
Saying “I saw you do (something) and I’m considering telling someone” is perfectly legal.
It will only become illegal if you add “unless you pay me $x”.
If they come to YOU and say “if you keep your mouth shut, I’ll pay you $x”, then that would not be illegal, as long as you didn’t coerce them into making an offer or in any way imply that you were open to offers. But it gets awfully close to the line, and opens you up to experiencing the legal system (even if they don’t win the case, it’s not fun).
>Is it illegal
Yet another question where a redditor asks what the laws are, but dont bother saying where they live.
Almost as dumb as redditors replying with confidence what the laws are where OP lives, but they dont know where he lives.
Redditors live in some bizarro fantasy world where all local, state, city, municipality, laws are exactly the same everywhere on the planet.
I may have some damaging info about you.
u/idrinkmyownsemen
Yea CNN did it when they threatened to dox a child over a meme
The victims on monk are always saying this verbatim in the cold open
The answer is that it depends.
If you see someone embarass themselfes a little and you say:”Ha ha I saw that!” – Your just being a dick
If they changed their name and moved because they dont want to be connected to their close relative who commited some heinous crime – Thats harassment
If they killed somebody – not reporting right away is already a crime
I know what you did last summer.
> All it would really do is send them into a state of panic at most.
Likely the most apt term is “poison pen”. Those sorts of correspondence are all illegal.
Reading these comments it really feels like blackmail laws are written by a fan of blackmailing people.
“I know where the body is” might not a threat but let’s be honest you could get somebody to go along with something otherwise out of character, even if the body is of a ‘deserving’ child molester. (Plot to a sons of anarchy episode, they kill a molester for a dad then blackmail the dad for the murder)
Same thing as “These gloves have your fingerprints, looks bad doesn’t it” (had someone do this to me, they asked me to hand them rubber gloves and while I realized the implication the context was very pressuring, went to 7/11 immediately and kept the receipt for a while, nothing came of it)
I mean look at the video of Torontos mayor smoking crack in a hotel room on camera. For his guard to be down like that as a political figure he was likely already compromised. Somebody probably made increasingly unreasonable demands before releasing the clip.
Yes, it can still be illegal. Threats alone, without demands, can count as blackmail or coercion. Depends on context and intent. Talk to a lawyer first.
It’s not blackmail if you’re not making any demands. But in that case, what’s the threat? Under what conditions are you saying you’d release the information or keep it secret? You’ve only presented half of your ultimatum.
Yes it is still illegal, but in practice, what has to be proven is that you intended them to do something that benefits you under the threat of you doing something if they didn’t.
Meanwhile, if you intend to do something that will harm someone else and they approach you and pay you not to follow through, it is entirely legal for you to accept.
You cannot make the offer, or indicate that you want them to make an offer, or hint that in any way…but you can accept the offer if they just happen to make it. This is because it is literally the making of the threat that is the extortion, so if you don’t make the threat, it’s not extortion. But remember, threats can be implied, you can’t just wink-wink your way through this.
So if you want to blackmail someone in a way that would make it hard to criminally charge you, you need to arrange it where it looks as close to that second thing as possible, where they just offered the money because they decided they didn’t want you doing the thing, and not the first thing, where you threatened at them first.
This intent is fairly easy to hide if the person you are trying to blackmail is the sort of person who would jump to the idea of paying you off themselves, and they think you are the sort of person who could be paid off.
(It’s sort of the same way that a bribe works much smoother if both the giver and recipient understand that a bribe is needed and the rough amount, whereas it’s really awkward if one of them has to tell the other what’s going on.)
Other ways of helping hide intent would be getting someone else to tell them that you have this information, or arranging some sort of leak where they find out this information apparently against your wishes.
Although as for you personally, you just ask this question on reddit, and as others have pointed out, intent is pretty easy to prove at this point. So, don’t do that.
Also, my general recommendation for anyone who has blackmailable material on someone is to just sell your story to the news. It’s much more legal.
Haha considering your name, you should just not
Do you think the person you shared the information with might then have a motive lie to police and claim that you demanded a million dollars to keep your mouth shut just so they can watch you get prosecuted?
Then it wouldn’t be black mail? Black mail is extorting somthing or another no?
Some of these questions on this sub… Really worry me
BM has been committed from the moment the threat is even implied. Think about it or it wasn’t a crime until exposure there wouldn’t be many BM convictions. Bc you could make the threat and get paid and continue the BM indefinitely and legally.
Or do you mean just threatening to report the crime with no offer for silence instead. That’s not even illegal.
It isn’t called blackmail. That is extortion instead.
I would think it is coercion in that you are seeking to gain, which doesn’t have to be financial.
And then if you knew something about someone ending a life, you are now a target.
> All it would really do is send them into a state of panic at most.
Psychopath.
I would say it’s controlling behaviour, but it would be up to someone with legal expertise to argue it was controlling in a positive way as opposed to negative.
Yes, planning and telling them about it ups whatever your going to do by making it “premeditated.”
if you go through with it I really hope the cops find this post lmao
If you aren’t extorting anything it’s not blackmail. It’s just being a dick.
Yes;
“I know XYZ. I could tell ABC…”
Or
“it would be a shame if someone found out”
It’s all extortion.
Yes….The definition of blackmail
Blackmail=Pay me or I’ll rat you out.
Extortion=Pay me or I’ll harm you.
These are not synonymous.
Fuck You Pay me!- Henry Hill ‘Goodfellas”