If you’ve been in the scene for long enough, a reference to Is Anyone Up? should elicit a reaction of equal parts horror and nostalgia. Born out of the alternative community in 2010 and developing into the notorious website that helped coin the term “revenge porn”, creator Hunter Moore quickly gained infamy for sharing explicit photos submitted anonymously with or without the consent of the people in them.
Released this week, Netflix documentary series The Most Hated Man on the Internet dives into a time in the scene’s history that we’d rather forget, where the community watched on enthralled as everyone from band members to young mums ended up at their most vulnerable in another blog post. Following the story of those trying to hold Moore and his cult-like dedication of fans accountable, it features interviews with victims, followers, Moore’s lawyer himself & more as they reflect on the depraved but captivating saga of the website.
Perhaps the darkest truth that director Rob Miller tries to expose is that despite the fact that we retrospectively look back on Is Anyone Up? with judgement and shame, there were deludes of viewers, submitters and active participants in a time where the internet was overall a place of even less accountability than it has now. Is Anyone Up? thrived because Hunter Moore was venerated for the controversy he was creating, with onlookers watching amused all the way up until they became his next victim.
Ironically enough, when it was finally Moore’s turn to take the spotlight, he ultimately destroyed the artificial credibility he had built around himself, initiating his own downfall with a public arrogance and indifference to the damage he was causing that peaked during his widely criticised appearance on CNN (or as BLUNT owner Mike testifies, “he came off like a dick”). The Most Hated Man on the Internet is available to stream.
