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Wales Online
Lifestyle
Sam Cook

True story behind Netflix ‘revenge porn’ doc The Most Hated Man on the Internet

New Netflix documentary, The Most Hated Man on the Internet, tells the story of the self-dubbed 'King of Revenge Porn', Hunter Moore. In 2010, at 26 years old, Moore created the revenge porn website, Is Anyone Up? which allowed users to post sexual and explicit photos of people online without their consent. The new documentary, which is now available to watch, follows the mother of one of his victims, Charlotte Laws, as she makes it her mission to take him and the site down.

In an audio clip heard in the three-part documentary series, Moore says that he launched the site after "some dumb b***h who broke my heart". He would compare himself to serial killer, Charles Manson, and dubbed himself a "professional life-ruiner". Moore also paid a hacker to break into email accounts of victims and steal private photos to post.

In response to public bragging by Moore about the website, BBC News named him as "the Net's most hated man", a title which was adapted by Rolling Stone, calling him "the most hated man on the Internet". Facebook banned Moore from their site.

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When asked to remove pictures from the site, Moore would refuse and this, in turn, prompted an investigation into him from the FBI in 2012. The site closed in April 2012 and was sold to an anti-bullying group.

Moore's crimes are the subject of new Netflix documentary, The Most Hated Man on the Internet (Netflix)

After the site's close, Charlotte Laws campaigned for three years after her daughter, Kayla, had her photos stolen and exposed. Whilst attempting to bring Moore to justice, Laws suffered threats of rape and murder at the hands of his followers, who were dubbed "The Family" similar to the '60s cult led by Charles Manson.

In February 2015, Moore would plead guilty to felony charges - in US law, a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year or by the death penalty - for aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting in the unauthorised access of a computer. In November 2015, he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and $145.70 in restitution. He was released in May 2017 and four years on from his release, he resurfaced on social media despite a ban.

Moore has resurfaced on the internet, despite a social media ban (Netflix)

Speaking on clips used in the documentary from previous interviews by Moore, the site owner explained how IsAnyoneUp.com worked.

"Me and my friends would just post a bunch of girls on IsAnyoneUp, and we just got a bunch of traffic one day. And I was like, 'Yo, I can make money off of t*****s and f***ing people over.'"

Moore is now five years out of prison and while the judge at his sentencing banned him from social media, he allegedly re-emerged on Twitter in 2021 before the account he apparently operated was suspended.

According to Good To Know, he mostly posted photographs from the gym and of his dog during his brief return to the platform he once used to communicate with his followers. He allegedly tweeted in 2021, "You know my name not my story. You've heard what I've done, Not what I've been through."

In 2022, he followed with another tweet: "Look guys, I did my time behind bars. Living my life peacefully now, it’s been a decade about what happened. Some of you loves me, most of you hates me, if you want me to apologise well I wouldn’t. I don’t owe anyone anything."

The account has now been disabled and he has not surfaced on other platforms. The Most Hated Man on the Internet is available to watch now on Netflix.

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