The Most Hated Man on the Internet is the new true-crime documentary on Netlfix you do not want to, and should not miss.
The three-part series explores the jaw-dropping story of Hunter Moore, the founder of revenge porn website, IsAnyoneUp.com, and the fight of Charlotte Laws to stop him.
Most importantly, The Most Hated Man on the Internet raises awareness of revenge porn, its victims, the power of social media, and the impact of trolling, a strong intention of the project director Robert Miller shared with Newsweek.
He said: "I think it's important to stress it's a historic story but the issue is so very contemporary, there are a lot more, kind-of, Hunter Moore's out there. There are people that are kind of perpetrating horrible acts and kind of so-called revenge pornography and there's a huge amount of online bullying. So we really hope that people watch this and, think about not just the real world, but the online world that we all inhabit, and how, what they write online can affect others so profoundly."
In 2010, Moore created the website IsAnyoneUp.com, which posted explicit images and videos of people and in most cases, without their consent. Often, the images were retrieved via hacking with the help of hacker, Charles Evens.
In January 2014, Moore was arrested by the FBI on charges of conspiracy, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his crimes and received a $2,000 fine in November 2015. He was also required to pay $145 in victim restitution
Despite the depravity of Moore's actions and his lack of remorse, it was not Moore himself that shocked and surprised director Rob Miller and producer Vikki Miller the most.
The Things That Shocked The Most Hated Man on the Internet Creators
1. Hunter Moore's "Cult-Like" Following
At its height, Hunter Moore's website IsAnyoneUp.com had 350,000 unique users per day and Moore had over 30,000 Twitter followers, which in the early years of Twitter, was seriously a lot.
Alongside the images, Moore would also include the victim's social media accounts, which would inevitably allow IsAnyoneUp.com to contact them further if they so pleased. Moore would also post other identifying factors such as images of victims' families, their workplaces, and city of residence.
Director Robert Miller reflected: "I think what really surprised me was not just Hunter Moore and his behavior, but the fact that he kind of amassed this kind of extraordinary cult-like following like that, there were thousands of people who are kind of egging him on kind of worshiping him and put him on kind of pedestal.
He continued: "I think that makes you ask questions about kind of human nature and the internet. So it just felt immediately like this was something kind of despicable, this is someone to be stopped, and yet, there were so many people who felt no empathy, who didn't feel for the victims and encouraged him to kind of do more extreme behaviors."
2. The IsAnyoneUp.com Comment Section
IsAnyoneUp.com, not only allowed people to anonymously upload explicit images and videos (alongside Moore's arranged hacking of email accounts to retrieve images), Moore had enabled a comment section, where visitors to the site could leave their thoughts on the pictures.
In the majority of cases, none of the comments were positive.
As seen in The Most Hated Man on the Internet, comments would often criticize a person's looks, with others leaving death threats and other site visitors praising Moore for his cruelty.
Robert Miller shared that when looking at the comments left on IsAnyoneUp.com, he was completely stunned at how "violent, aggressive and nasty" they were.
He shared: "I think the other thing, which I just found quite shocking, was the comments that were being left, and how violent and aggressive and nasty they are.
"I think there are a lot of documentaries that say use the term 'cyber bullying' and give you some examples but in the series that we've made, you really feel it you feel that kind of nastiness, that maliciousness, that kind of hatred. It's really visceral, and I think that was important. It might be construed by some as shocking, but it's important because that is the reality that a lot of people post on social media and the internet today."
3. Working With the Victims
In The Most Hated Man on the Internet, some of Moore's victims spoke bravely of their experiences and how the moment their images appeared on IsAnyoneUp.com, their lives changed.
One of Moore's victims, Destiny Benedict, known as "Butthole Girl" to IsAnyoneUp.com fans posed in a series of images and videos in the hopes that Moore would remove a picture of her kids from the site, that was attached to sexually explicit images of her.
Kirra Hughes, a model and Moore's ex-girlfriend also spoke out about her relationship with him during the time The Most Hated Man on the Internet was growing and the moment she realized the extremities of what he was doing.
Producer Vikki Miller said: "The other thing that really shocked me actually was, was working with the victims and just how much of an impact it had on their lives and I think I had a bit of a 2022 kind of attitude when I went into it, which was 'it happens all the time' and you all know people that it's happened to but, it's something that happens and I think, what I hadn't ever stopped to think about in more detail was, I guess, number one, how much of an impact that really does have on someone.
"I was surprised at how deeply it really hurt and changed people and I think part of the reason for that, particularly for our women [in The Most Hated Man on the Internet] and I'm sure that happens now as well but particularly for our women is because it was the early days of it [the internet] and so it hadn't really happened before.
"They were still figuring out a term for it in those days, and so I think that just made it even more kind of, traumatizing and terrifying for them. It wasn't a common thing like we see it now. It was the beginning of it and that must have been so scary. We're used to seeing those sorts of things or understanding that they're circulated on the internet but I think in those days, they weren't used to it. And that just makes it even more shocking, even more exposing, and made them feel even more vulnerable."
Robert Miller recalled speaking with Kayla Laws , whose intimate and personal images had been posted on IsAnyoneUp.com after being hacked.
He said: "I remember having a conversation with Kayla, and when she was talking to us about bout being posted for the first time. I mean, there were tears welling up in her eyes, it was so kind of raw and immediate and the legacy of that time in her life was so evident."
4. IsAnyoneUp.com Was "Almost Mainstream"
Since 2013, 48 states, have passed anti-revenge porn laws but it is not a federal crime.
In 2010, there were no laws in place to criminalize Moore's behavior, meaning it was difficult to stop him.
Today, sites such as IsAnyoneUp.com would be found in the dark corners of the internet known as the "dark web" or shut down but in the 2010s, IsAnyoneUp.com was big, it was in the public domain and it was global.
Moore also had become a well-known figure, often appearing on American chat shows to boast about IsAnyoneUp.com and defend himself against any form of criticism.
Vikki Miller reflected: "This wasn't a dark corner of the internet. This is the thing, this was almost mainstream. It started off in a little corner and it moved.
"It was on Anderson Cooper is on and Dr. Drew, he [Moore] was one of the biggest people on Twitter and I think that's the interesting thing about that time period is that now it is a dark corner, I think it would be pushed onto the dark web but that in that time period, because the internet was a different place then, it was kind of mainstream and kind of accepted and I know when he was in the mainstream, he was being challenged on the chat shows and stuff but he was kind of challenged to a certain extent, it wasn't full on and I think that's the fascinating thing that was almost mainstream. Whereas now I thought it would be more dark web."
The Most Hated Man on the Internet is streaming on Netflix now.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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