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You have the right not to release information unless legally compelled to. But you generally have no right to compel someone else _not_ to reveal (true) inform
by andrewla 8y ago
You have the right not to release information unless legally compelled to. But you generally have no right to compel someone else _not_ to reveal (true) information no matter what level of secrecy you assign to it.
I think the answer is that blackmail should be illegal, but it requires a deeper answer than just the "right to keep secrets". The article does a fairly good job of breaking down the problem, but it's not easy to summarize.
- ghaff 8y agoIt's thought provoking because there really is a gray line between where payments to keep information secret is a legitimate private transaction and where they cross into criminality. And there are situations on either side of that line where I have trouble articulating why exactly one feels OK and the other doesn't.
- elliekelly 8y agoI agree and I think the Bezos/National Enquirer situation is a good illustration of how difficult it is to articulate where that line is. If the National Enquirer had offered to kill the story in exchange for Bezos paying them a million dollars would that have been as scandalous as their request to have the owner of a well-known newspaper make a false public statement that he disagrees with? Probably not. Along the same lines, if the National Enquirer threatened to publish your personal text messages and photos unless you paid them a million dollars that would feel infinitely more outrageous than if the exact same offer were made to Bezos. Requesting a million dollars from the richest man in the world just doesn't feel as wrong.
- hopler 8y agoHe wouldn't be the richest man in the world for long if it was legal for everyone to blackmail him.