Blackmail candid photos: A lawyer about how to protect themselves from pornomnost
There is still no equivalent in Russian the concept of "revenge porn" - a situation in which a person, wanting to take revenge, puts in the network intimate photos and videos of a former partner or threatens to do so. Unfortunately, such situations are not uncommon - but they can and must be fought. Kristina Lapshina, a practicing lawyer in civil law, told us how to protect our rights.
Not long ago, one of my friends sent me a message full of panic and despair. Opening it, I saw a photo where the girl was smiling at the camera, holding her bare chest. The essence of the message was that a villain hacked a friend’s account, found her photos in the correspondence, addressed to the young man, and threatened to send them to the entire contact list if the girl did not send him an impressive amount of money. Naturally, the friend was not going to pay anything to anyone, but at the same time she was afraid even to admit the idea that her photos would get to all her friends and employers. I will tell you how this situation was resolved at the end, but for now a bit of theory.
Often, we are not being blackmailed by strangers at all, but by the closest ones: for example, ex-partners ready for anything, or friends. Sometimes we unknowingly almost give our nude photos in the hands of scammers.
The first rule that I worked out for myself after serving in the prosecutor’s office and having closely communicated with the “K” department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, it’s just what you’re ready to show people. Even in personal messages. Even sending to people you are sure of as in yourself. The same goes for file storage in cloud services. You can hack if not everything, then very much. If law enforcement officers can do this, then attackers can do it too.
The second rule: never follow links that cause even the slightest doubt. Yes, I know that we all heard this advice a million times. But from this it does not become less useful. At one time, as a matter of duty, I visited a lot of resources of the shadow Internet (parts of the network protected by encryption mechanisms that allow anonymity) to discuss methods of stealing someone else's data. Incidentally, theft of photographs there is perceived as petty indulgence and a rite of initiation into the criminal community; usually more complicated issues are solved - how to divert an account or get passport data. The queen of methods of stealing any information from our accounts is the notorious social engineering. Well, who among us will not help a friend to win the competition? Or refuse to sign an important petition? But any of these links can be a way to steal your account along with all the correspondence and files.
Preventive measures are always good, but what if the trouble has already happened and photographs have been taken over by a stranger who threatens to spread them? Let's look at a few situations.
SITUATION №1
We met, and now he (a) uses my photos to get me back or get revenge
A similar incident was recently described in our community. Unfortunately, this situation is least settled from a legal point of view. In any case, it is worth knowing that any photos are information about the private life of a person, constituting his personal or family secret, and to distribute them without the consent of such person is unacceptable. It is worth reminding about the offender and try to figure out the issue by talking to him. If the attacker did not distribute them or did not demand funds for non-proliferation, there is no corpus delicti, and it is impossible to attract him even for preparing for a crime - both of the above mentioned structures are not serious or especially serious. Alas, our legislation is so imperfect that it cannot be held accountable for the threat of such distribution. Fortunately, it is not always those who threaten to complete what they have begun. But, if the attacker does carry out his threats, this is a completely different conversation.
SITUATION number 2
The attacker has distributed your photos
In this situation, it becomes completely unimportant what purpose the person pursued - to take revenge, have fun, or get money. Here the fact of distribution is important. Do not be afraid and panic, do not be ashamed of the fact that you are shooting naked. I am convinced that the attacker must be punished, and here it is important to act immediately and decisively. First of all, it is necessary to collect printscreens of all messages that he circulated (now they can be notarized - they are more likely that this information will force law enforcement officers to listen to your words) - or find those who saw your photos if they were distributed not online (for example, if the pictures were posted at the entrance or scattered around the work), and ready to testify.
After collecting all the information and witnesses, you must come to the duty officer’s office (you can go to the police station, but you’ll lose a couple of days when you send it to the committee) and have a statement about bringing a well-known person or unidentified person to criminal responsibility in connection with with the commission of an act constituting a corpus delicti, under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the inviolability of privacy”). Please be aware that only a person who has reached the age of 16 can be held liable under this article. The maximum penalty provided for in this article is deprivation of liberty for up to two years.
It is likely that the committee will not accept your application at once and will in every way deny it. But you must insist. If the duty officer refuses to accept a crime report (although he is obliged to do this regardless of the content, according to the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 736 of August 29, 2014), do not waste your nerves, write a statement at home and send it along with copies of documents or testimonies by registered letter with notification . Then you will know exactly the date of receipt of the mail, and the duty of your call indicating the date of receipt and the name should give information about the consideration of the application (at least the registration number of the application in the KUSP - the Book of registration of statements and reports of crimes).
I will tell you a secret, in practice, they immediately excite only crimes committed under conditions of obviousness, or when there are simply no other options. The statement under Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not apply to such, and the premium for it is not given - they are engaged less willingly. Therefore, you need to wait three days, which are given for the pre-investigation check (they are always delayed to ten), after which the material about the refusal to initiate a criminal case is sent to the prosecutor for verification. Here you must go to your district prosecutor's office at the reception. It is desirable either to the district prosecutor, or to his deputy in the criminal unit. Ideal if it is a woman. The prosecutor's office needs data on article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: representatives of the department like to report on constitutional rights (for this, even a special report is provided) and to punish negligent investigators.
If the case is initiated, and even more so if immediately with respect to a particular person, then consider that you won. At present, a uniform approach is being formed in Russia to investigating such crimes, and more and more often they come to the appointment of real punishment to the criminal. Believe me, no one will be on the side of your abuser. For example, in my practice there was a case when a lawyer, in a conversation with a defendant before the meeting, was outraged by his behavior and reprimanded, not being embarrassed by the participants in the corridor. Incidentally, if a crime is committed by a person living abroad, it is investigated at the location of the victim.
SITUATION number 3
You are demanded money for non-distribution of photos
This is the most understandable and legally regulated situation. It is worth knowing that some people live only due to the fact that they regularly receive money from those who fear distribution of “discrediting” photos. As a rule, such images are stolen from accounts or cloud services, so you have to communicate with an unknown person, which somewhat complicates the work of law enforcement agencies.
If they send you messages in which they blackmail you by sending nude photos to your friends or employer, then you should contact the police (yes, it’s the nearest police station, not the committee). In the statement, indicate that the person’s actions contain a corpus delicti provided for in Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Extortion”), be sure to attach printouts of messages demanding money, and indeed all correspondence concerning photographs and money give weight to your information). If you have already transferred or transferred money, do not forget to also inform the law enforcement authorities.
You can also go to court with a complaint about the inaction of the authorities, if they can not solve anything. The police, the prosecutor's office and the committee will take all possible steps not to bring the matter to the satisfaction of your complaint, since it is necessary to report this to the higher management (up to the General Prosecutor's Office) and this also implies depremiation.
In any case, you need to keep cool and be brave. No one has the right to do this to us. The first step is a conversation: this is exactly what my friend did, convincing the attacker not to send her photo. But if this does not help, it is necessary to apply radical and repressive measures.
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