If you spent any time on the weirder, darker corners of the web in the early 2010s, you probably heard the name Hunter Moore. Or maybe you just saw the headlines. BBC News and Rolling Stone didn't mince words back then; they straight up called him the most hated man on the internet. It’s a heavy title. Most villains fade away or get eclipsed by the next big scandal, but Moore’s legacy—if you can even call it that—stuck like digital tar.
He didn't just stumble into infamy. He built a throne out of it.
Honestly, the story of Is Anyone Up?—the website that turned Moore into a pariah—is more than just a tale of a "professional life ruiner." That’s what he called himself, by the way. He took pride in it. But while a lot of people think his downfall was just about "revenge porn," the reality is actually a lot more calculated and, frankly, way more illegal than just hosting mean pictures.
Why Hunter Moore was actually the most hated man on the internet
Most people think Moore was just a guy who let angry ex-boyfriends post nudes of their former partners. That was bad enough. But what really made him a federal target wasn't just the content—it was the theft.
Moore wasn't just waiting for submissions. He was actively hunting.
He hired a hacker named Charles Evens (who went by "Gary Jones" online) to break into people's private email accounts. We're talking hundreds of victims. They weren't "scorned lovers" sending stuff in; they were regular people who had their digital lives picked apart for a few bucks. Moore was paying Evens specifically to find naked photos and personal info to splash across the front page of his site.
🔗 Read more: Game of Thrones Actors: Where the Cast of Westeros Actually Ended Up
He didn't care if a woman begged him to take a photo down. He’d usually just reply with a "LOL."
The sheer arrogance was what fueled the fire. He’d go on talk shows, smirk at the camera, and claim he was a "businessman." He even compared himself to Charles Manson at one point. It’s that specific brand of sociopathic digital entitlement that made him the most hated man on the internet. He didn't just break the law; he laughed while doing it, convinced that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act would protect him forever.
He was wrong.
The Charlotte Laws Factor
You can't talk about Hunter Moore without talking about Charlotte Laws. She’s basically the hero of this whole messy saga. When her daughter Kayla’s photos were hacked and posted on Is Anyone Up?, Charlotte didn't just send a cease-and-desist letter. She went full detective.
She spent two years building a massive dossier. She talked to over 40 victims. She hounded the FBI. While the authorities were initially slow to move, her persistence is widely credited as the catalyst that finally put Moore in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice.
💡 You might also like: Is The Weeknd a Christian? The Truth Behind Abel’s Faith and Lyrics
The Legal Hammer Drops: 2014 and 2015
The feds finally caught up in January 2014. Moore and Evens were indicted on a laundry list of charges: conspiracy, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft.
Here is how the numbers actually broke down:
- The Plea: In February 2015, Moore pleaded guilty to felony charges.
- The Sentence: He got 30 months (two and a half years) in federal prison.
- The Fine: A measly $2,000 and some restitution.
- The Hacker: Charles Evens got 25 months.
By the time Moore was released in May 2017, the internet had changed. Revenge porn laws were starting to pop up everywhere. California led the charge, but other states followed. The Wild West era Moore thrived in was starting to get some fences.
Where is he now?
Since his release, Moore has been... well, mostly quiet by his standards. He tried to pivot to EDM music with a track called "Make The Internet Great Again." It didn't exactly top the charts. He released a book in 2018 titled Is Anyone Up? but it failed to recapture the "glory" of his trolling days.
On social media, he occasionally pops up as a "crypto gym-bro" type, posting about workouts and his dog. He’s been banned from Facebook and has seen various Twitter (X) accounts suspended over the years. He’s claimed he’s "living peacefully" and has zero intention of apologizing.
📖 Related: Shannon Tweed Net Worth: Why She is Much More Than a Rockstar Wife
Classic Hunter.
How to Protect Yourself from Digital Predators
Even though the most hated man on the internet is no longer "the king," the tactics he used are still very much in play. Hacking and non-consensual image sharing (NCII) are rampant.
If you want to keep your digital life secure, you've gotta be proactive. It's not just about "not sending nudes"—it's about locking the door to your digital house.
- Use 2FA everywhere. Moore’s hacker used basic credential stuffing and social engineering. Two-factor authentication (especially via an app, not SMS) stops 99% of these attacks.
- Audit your "Authorized Apps." Go into your Google or iCloud settings and see what third-party apps have access to your data. If you don't recognize one, kill it.
- Use the "Take It Down" tool. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has a tool called Take It Down that helps people remove or prevent the sharing of their private images online.
- Know your rights. If you are a victim of non-consensual image sharing, it is a crime in most jurisdictions. Document everything. Screenshots are your best friend.
The story of Moore is a reminder that the internet doesn't just forget, but it also eventually catches up. The arrogance of being the "most hated" eventually runs into the cold reality of a federal courtroom. Justice might be slow, but in this case, it actually showed up.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Update your passwords for any account that holds sensitive photos. Use a password manager so you aren't reusing the same one.
- Check "Have I Been Pwned" to see if your email has been part of a data breach that could lead to a Moore-style hack.
- Enable "Advanced Protection" on Google if you feel you're at high risk for targeted hacking.