In what might be a new low for the Internet, and that’s truly saying something, Hunter Moore’s blog, which he calls, “Is Anyone Up?” has been racking up the Internet hits after gaining notoriety for publishing embarrassing pictures and information about people he’s managed to grab from their supposedly private Facebook accounts. Many of the pictures and profiles he posts were taken by the people posting them on their Facebook accounts, in varying states of undress; some even are engaged in various sex acts. The blog, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, was originally started when Moore was living in that country, but clearly aware that laws protecting people from such things are more strict down under, has moved to San Francisco, where he is apparently free to publish whatever he feels without any repercussions.
Well, maybe there are some. He’s posted pictures of the scars on his shoulder of a woman who attacked him with a knife for posting her private pictures on his site. Now he says, he doesn’t post anything from people in the Bay area. Everyone else if fair game though, and by the looks of it, a large number of the pictures and Facebook commentary he publishes come from accounts he’s cracked by getting former friends and or lovers to hand them over as a form of retribution.
The Herald looked into whether Facebook might have something to say about accounts on their site being hacked and screen caps made of people’s personal information and then being posted on another site, and despite their huge resources, can’t seem to find a way to legally shut him down, so the show goes on.
What’s perhaps even more disturbing than the fact that such a site exists, is that it appears to be flourishing. A casual perusal of the comments left by visitors show they are thrilled to have access to the private pictures and lives of the people that wind up on the site. It appears to be a form of voyeurism combined with anger from past lovers in their own lives that is fueling the spike in viewership (now at some 30 million page views each month). Many commenters appear almost gleeful, suggesting that the person targeted somehow deserves to be exploited in such manner.
Moore occasionally posts his thoughts about things too, mainly the battle he feels he’s waging against those that wish to take him down, either through direct threats, or lawsuits. Thus far, he exclaims happily, no one has been able to touch him (other than that girl with the knife of course) and he plans to keep his site going as long as people come by to visit (meaning he can sell ads) which means the rest of us will remain at risk, if we uh, plan to post stuff we don’t want others to see on our Facebook pages.