Suppose that A blackmails B: “pay me £5000, or | will release incriminating photographs of you.”

• It is not illegal to release the photos.
• It is not illegal to unconditionally threaten to release the photos.
• It is not illegal to request money from a person.

Yet the conditional threat to release the photos, unless money is provided, is illegal. This is the paradox of blackmail. Why should blackmail be illegal, when its components are legitimate?

Blackmail is not extortion. In blackmail, A threatens to perform a /awful act that would bring about negative consequences for B, unless B provides some benefit for A. In extortion, A threatens to perform an unlawful act that would bring about negative consequences for B, unless B provides some benefit for A. It is easy to explain why extortion should be illegal, since threatening to perform unlawful acts is illegal. But there is no general problem with threatening to perform lawful acts.

In fact, blackmail gives B a better case. Compare:

1. A makes an unconditional threat to B: “I will release these photos.”
2. A makes a conditional threat to B: “I will release these photos, unless you give me money.”

If you were B, you would prefer to be in the second case. By making a conditional threat, A provides you with options (both of which are in themselves legal). If you take the deal, then you become the beneficiary of A, since you prefer the information to be in the hands of A alone.

The second paradox: B discovers that A is intending to release compromising photos, then contacts A and offers him money in exchange for destroying the photos. This is bribery, and is legal. It is legal for B to make the offer and legal for A to accept.

Why is this legal, but blackmail is not? Blackmail is the same exchange, only initiated by A. Why does the legality of selling secrecy depend on who initiates the act?

A labour union threatens a strike unless a better pension deal is provided for its members,

“If you do not accept this deal, we will withhold our labour.” A protest group that threatens a boycott unless a company changes their practices,

“If you do not stop supporting this political candidate, we will protest outside your stores.”

What is the relevant difference between hard bargaining and blackmail?

#Philosophy