Cyber blackmail is defined as a transgression which occurs when an individual or group intimidates the victim by threatening to expose his/her personal information on social media. This form of criminal activity, which has emerged with technological advancement, particularly in the artificial intelligence (AI) domain, is not confined to any specific region or nation. The unrestricted reach of cyber blackmail necessitates the constant revision and evaluation of the laws regulating it so that these laws maintain their effectiveness when changes occur in the manner in which this offence is committed. This study comparatively analysed the validity of current cyber blackmail laws in Iraq and Malaysia through discussions emphasizing the association between cyber blackmail and AI, as well as the rules and regulations formulated to curb this crime. The systematic, comprehensive and comparative method employed for this study scrutinized the issue of cyber blackmail from all perspectives. It revealed that the will of Iraqi authorities falls short when it comes to the implementation of effective measures aimed at reining in the prevalence of cyber blackmail. These measures included reviewing the penal code or drafting laws directed at combating IT crimes. The crime of cyber blackmail involves the instilling of anxiety in the victim, with the purpose of compelling him/her to succumb to the demands of the blackmailer. We conclude this study with proposals aimed at curtailing the occurrence of cyber blackmail.

artificial intelligence; crime; cyber blackmail; information law; legislation

Abdulhameed, R. S. (2021). Crimes of threats and cyber extortion through social media: A comparative study. Review of International Geographical Education Online, 11(12): 1022-1033.

Al-Habsi, A., Butler, M., & Percy, A. (2023). Blackmail and the self-disclosure of sensitive information on social media: prevalence, victim characteristics and reporting behaviours amongst Omani WhatsApp users. Security Journal, 37(2), 245–263. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-023-00376-3

Al-Habsi, A., Butler, M., Percy, A., et al. (2020). Blackmail on social media: what do we know and what remains unknown? Security Journal, 34(3), 525–540. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-020-00246-2

Alisawee, S. (2019). The crime of cyber extortion (A comparative study). University of Al-Qadisiyah.

Al-khaza, M. S., Lahiani, H. (2023). Cybercrime and Harassment: The Impact of Blackmailing on Jordanian Society as a Case Study. 23(3): 117-123. https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v23i3.99

Al-Masalha, H., Hnaif, A., Tarek, K. (2020). Cyber-crime effect on Jordanian society. International Journal of Advanced Soft Computing Applications, 12(3): 2074-8523.

Al-Najjar S. F. M., (2024). Criminal responsibilities arising from artificial intelligence crimes. Imam Ja’afar Al-Sadiq University of Legal Studies, 1(7), 80-111. https://www.iasj.net/iasj/issue/321382

Al-Shamari, M. I. (2021). Cybersecurity and its impact on Iraqi national security (in Arabic). Journal of Legal and Political Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.55716/jjps.2021.10.1.4

Bailey, L., Harinam, V., & Ariel, B. (2020). Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records. PLOS ONE, 15(12), e0242621. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242621

Chiancone, C. (2023). Smart Government: Practical Uses of Artificial Intelligence in Local Government (Improving Financial Management with AI). Taylor & Francis Online, 126.

Claussén-Karlsson, M. (2017). Artificial Intelligence and the External Element of the Crime: An Analysis of the Liability Problem [PhD thesis]. Örebro University.

Correia, V. J. (2021). An Explorative Study into the Importance of Defining and Classifying Cyber Terrorism in the United Kingdom. SN Computer Science, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-021-00962-5

Dai, D., & Boroomand, S. (2021). A Review of Artificial Intelligence to Enhance the Security of Big Data Systems: State-of-Art, Methodologies, Applications, and Challenges. Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, 29(2), 1291–1309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11831-021-09628-0

Daoud H. S., (2021). Civil liability for social media hacking. Imam Ja’afar Al-Sadiq University of Legal Studies, 255-283. https://www.iasj.net/iasj/issue/13269

Djenna, A., Barka, E., Benchikh, A., et al. (2023a). Unmasking Cybercrime with Artificial-Intelligence-Driven Cybersecurity Analytics. Sensors, 23(14), 6302. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23146302

Djenna, A., Bouridane, A., Rubab, S., et al. (2023b). Artificial Intelligence-Based Malware Detection, Analysis, and Mitigation. Symmetry, 15(3), 677. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15030677

Edwards, M., & Hollely, N. M. (2023). Online sextortion: Characteristics of offences from a decade of community reporting. Journal of Economic Criminology, 2, 100038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconc.2023.100038

Erdélyi, O. J., Goldsmith, J. (2022). Regulating artificial intelligence: Proposal for a global solution. Government Information Quarterly, 39(4): 101748. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GIQ.2022.101748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101748

FindLaw. (2017). United states of America v. Antonio Fontana. Available online: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-6th-circuit/1872024.html (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Fraga-Lamas, P., Fernández-Caramés, T., & Castedo, L. (2017). Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways. Sensors, 17(6), 1457. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17061457

Hayward, K. J., & Maas, M. M. (2020). Artificial intelligence and crime: A primer for criminologists. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 17(2), 209–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659020917434

Hung, T.-W., & Yen, C.-P. (2023). Predictive policing and algorithmic fairness. Synthese, 201(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-023-04189-0

Hussein, J. M. (2023). Case Law Regarding the Legality of Social Media Cyber-Blackmail. Relações Internacionais Do Mundo Atual Unicuritiba, 1, 1-14.

Hussein, O. A., Manap, N. A., Rahman, M. R. A. (2022). Cyber Blackmail Crime against Women - A Case Study. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(3), 6882-6893.

Ibrahim, A. A. (2021). Applications of artificial intelligence in confronting cybercrimes. The Legal Journal. 2817.

Iraqi Council of Ministers. (2011). Homepage. Available online: https://iq.parliament.iq/ (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Jada, I., & Mayayise, T. O. (2024). The impact of artificial intelligence on organisational cyber security: An outcome of a systematic literature review. Data and Information Management, 8(2), 100063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dim.2023.100063

Kamińska, D., Aktas, K., Rizhinashvili, D., et al. (2021). Two-Stage Recognition and beyond for Compound Facial Emotion Recognition. Electronics, 10(22), 2847. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10222847

King, T. C., Aggarwal, N., Taddeo, M., et al. (2019). Artificial Intelligence Crime: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Foreseeable Threats and Solutions. Science and Engineering Ethics, 26(1), 89–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-018-00081-0

Krishnamoorthy, S., Dua, A., & Gupta, S. (2021). Role of emerging technologies in future IoT-driven Healthcare 4.0 technologies: a survey, current challenges and future directions. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14(1), 361–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-021-03302-w

Laws of Malaysia: Act 574 Penal Code. (2006). Available online: https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Malaysia-Penal-Code-Act-1936-1997-eng.pdf (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Laws of Malaysia: Act 588, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. (2004). Available online: https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/Act588bi_3.pdf (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Laws of Malaysia: Act 709, Personal Data Protection Act 2010. (2010). Available online: https://www.kkd.gov.my/pdf/Personal%20Data%20Protection%20Act%202010.pdf (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Light, T. (2021). Data Privacy: One Universal Regulation Eliminating the Many States of Legal Uncertainty. St. Louis University Law Journal, 65(4), 873-896.

Martinez-Miranda, E., McBurney, P., & Howard, M. J. W. (2016). Learning unfair trading: A market manipulation analysis from the reinforcement learning perspective. 2016 IEEE Conference on Evolving and Adaptive Intelligent Systems (EAIS), 36, 103–109. https://doi.org/10.1109/eais.2016.7502499

Mekkawi, M. (2022). Cyber Blackmail between Threats and Protection. Journal of Law and Emerging Technologies, 2(2), 53–116. https://doi.org/10.54873/jolets.v2i2.71

Nienhaus, V. (2021). The digital transformation of the global economy through artificial intelligence: Ethical, Behavioral and Legal Issues (Arabic). Mashura Journal. https://doi.org/10.33001/m011020211591

O’Malley, R. L., & Holt, K. M. (2020). Cyber Sextortion: An Exploratory Analysis of Different Perpetrators Engaging in a Similar Crime. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 258–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520909186

Oh, S. H., Kim, J., Nah, J. H., et al. (2024). Employing Deep Reinforcement Learning to Cyber-Attack Simulation for Enhancing Cybersecurity. Electronics, 13(3), 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13030555

Østerlund, C., Jarrahi, M. H., Willis, M., et al. (2020). Artificial intelligence and the world of work, a co‐constitutive relationship. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(1), 128–135. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24388

Penal Code No. 111 1969. (2016). Available online: https://menarights.org/sites/default/files/2016-11/IRQ_Penal%20Code%201969%20as%20amended_eng.pdf (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Public Prosecutor v. Chang Ye Siong (2019) 1 MJL 156. https://mjsl.usim.edu.my/index.php/jurnalmjsl/article/view/657 (Accessed 3 September 2024).

Public Prosecutor v. Mohd Zamri Mohd Yunus (2019) MLJU 1501. https://mjsl.usim.edu.my/index.php/jurnalmjsl/article/view/657 (Accessed 3 September 2024).

Rajaee, T., Khani, S., & Ravansalar, M. (2020). Artificial intelligence-based single and hybrid models for prediction of water quality in rivers: A review. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, 200, 103978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2020.103978

Republic of Iraq v. Ahmed, 1588/C/2021 (2021). https://mjsl.usim.edu.my/index.php/jurnalmjsl/article/view/657 (Accessed 3 September 2024).

Saleem, R., Hameed, A., Mohammed, T., Aziz, A. (2022). Crimes of Social Media in Iraq. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 6(1), 397-408.

Salim, I. F., Dhafri, M. R. (2024). The Criminal Agreement in Cybercrimes in Iraqi, Emirati, and Qatari Law. Kurdish Studies, 12(2): 4060-4087. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.58262/ks.v12i2.300.

Sancho, D. (2017). Digital Extortion: A Forward-looking View. Available online: http://documents.trendmicro.com/assets/wp-digital-extortion-a-forward-looking-view.pdf (Accessed on 3 May 2024).

Scientists, G. (2022). Artificial Intelligence (AI)- Definitions and Applications. Available online: https://gkscientist.com/artificial-intelligence/ (accessed on 3 May 2024).

Seymour, J., Tully, P. (2016). Weaponizing data science for social engineering: Automated E2E spear phishing on Twitter. DEF CON.

Shafaq, N. (2023). What is the current landscape of crime in Iraq? Shafaq News.Com.

Siva Shankar, S., Hung, B. T., Chakrabarti, P., et al. (2023). A novel optimization based deep learning with artificial intelligence approach to detect intrusion attack in network system. Education and Information Technologies, 29(4): 3859-3883.

Spiezia, F. (2022). International cooperation and protection of victims in cyberspace: welcoming Protocol II to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. ERA Forum, 23(1), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-022-00707-8

Sulkowski, A. J., & Shea, T. (2007). Cyber-Extortion: The Elephant in the Server Room. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.955969

Sulkowski, A. J., & Shea, T. (2007). Cyber-Extortion: The Elephant in the Server Room. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.955969

Teo, S. A. (2023). Human dignity and AI: mapping the contours and utility of human dignity in addressing challenges presented by AI. Law, Innovation and Technology, 15(1), 241–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2023.2184132

Thakker, P., Japee, G. (2023). Emerging Technologies in Accountancy and Finance: A Comprehensive Review. European Economic Letters (EEL), 13(3): 993-1011.

Uma, S. (2017). Outlawing cybercrimes against women in India. Bharati Law Review. 5(4): 103-116.

Vasiu, I., & Vasiu, L. (2020). Cyber Extortion and Threats: Analysis of the United States Case Law. Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 14(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.5817/mujlt2020-1-1

Vasiu, I., & Vasiu, L. (2020a). Forms and Consequences of the Cyber Threats and Extortion Phenomenon. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 9(4), 295. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2020.v9n4p295

Velasco, C. (2022). Cybercrime and Artificial Intelligence. An overview of the work of international organizations on criminal justice and the international applicable instruments. ERA Forum, 23(1), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-022-00702-z

Wang, F. (2024). Breaking the silence: Examining process of cyber sextortion and victims’ coping strategies. International Review of Victimology. https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580241234331

Wehrli, S., Hertweck, C., Amirian, M., et al. (2021). Bias, awareness, and ignorance in deep-learning-based face recognition. AI and Ethics, 2(3), 509–522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-021-00108-6