(SPOT.ph) We've all grown pretty accustomed to social media and the, uh, civilized corner of the Internet we inhabit on the day-to-day. There are some unspoken rules now; no one really posts on Facebook unless it's for memes or life achievements, Twitter is a platform you do more scrolling than posting, and Instagram is a nice hub for showing off what's been going on in "life lately"—that is, if they stop trying to be more like TikTok.
All those expectations and standards are currently in place (and still open to evolution, as all things on the Internet are), but in the late aughts and early 2010's, the Internet resembled more of the lawless Wild West. No one realized how gargantuan a presence it could have in people's lives and how everlasting content posted onto it could be.
It was this time and culture that created the "most hated man on the Internet," a.k.a. Hunter Moore, the founder of revenge porn site IsAnyoneUp. Nowadays, a person like Moore would immediately get canceled, or at the very least garner controversy, over the creation of a site. Back then, however, he was celebrated and treated as a god, as this new docu-series on Netflix explores.
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The Most Hated Man on the Internet Is Now Streaming on Netflix PH
It was the year 2012. Social networking on the Internet was still in its infancy. "At that point in time, the Internet just felt like this fun festival. Hunter Moore, he showed the world that the Internet is f*cking permanent and has the power to ruin your life," one of the people initially part of Moore's crowd stated in the documentary.
Earlier that year, Moore established the site IsAnyoneUp.com, where people's leaked nude photos were posted by anonymous contributors, along with the personal details from their social media profiles on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. To top that off, users on the site were encouraged to criticize, rate, and bully the people in the leaked photos via the comment sections of each post.
"You can post pictures of random boobs and penises all day, but adding that social network to it just puts it to a whole other level," Moore stated in a radio interview included in the documentary. In the same vein, the site depicted the words "Thank You For Being Evil" when a contributor would send in photos.
Moore publicly bragged about earning $13-20 thousand dollars a month from the site. However, he refused to take responsibility or ownership of any of the illicit photos posted on the website, as he claimed to just be the creator of the platform and not an overseer of what other people would post.
All that wickedness is covered within the first 20 minutes of the three-episode documentary series, and the remaining runtime just entrenches you deeper into the sordid story. Throughout the docu-series, you'll meet the cult of "bad boys" Moore inspired called "The Family," the tragic story of a woman called "Butthole Girl," who was taken advantage of by Moore, and even a surprise appearance from the worldwide hacktivist group known as Anonymous (spoiler alert: they sent hundreds of dildos to Moore's house).
While the documentary doesn't shy away from the brooding, punk, and edgy atmosphere of the Internet in the early 2010's, it does serve as a reminder of how dark and twisted the Internet is capable of being. Yet, all the disturbing aspects make it somewhat rewarding, in the end, as you'll get to witness the combined efforts of many different organizations go to cyber-war with Moore.
It'll make you think what a powerful force of good the Internet could have been, had the likes of Moore not made the first landing on it.
The Most Hated Man on the Internet is now streaming on Netflix.
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this strange new world.