It was only a matter of time before Anonymous, the hacker collective known for being protectors of the free Internet, jumped into the revenge porn fray. Last night, they announced #OpHuntHunter, an offshoot of the group’s anti-bullying operation that seeks to “hold Hunter Moore accountable for his actions.”
Mr. Moore enraged and frightened privacy advocates (and anyone who has ever taken a nude selfie) last week when he told us that his new site, HunterMoore.TV, would include an address submission field where users can submit addresses alongside naked photos of their exes. Though he has since gone back on that claim, Anonymous has taken it upon themselves to dox Mr. Moore, publishing personal information such as his home address and the name of his parents. They’ve also published the personal info of Andrew Myers, the proprietor of Is Anyone Back, a copycat site of Mr. Moore’s first submission site, Is Anyone Up.
It’s worth noting, however, that Mr. Moore told Betabeat that his personal information has been available online for a long time. And last week, Charlotte Laws, whose daughter was a victim of Mr. Moore’s site, tweeted his address. She told Betabeat that she has been giving it out to victims hoping to serve him lawsuits for months.
In the release, Anonymous writes:
This is a call to all of anonymous. We Will hold hunter moore accountable for his actions, we will protect anyone who is victimized by abuse of our internet, we will prevent the stalking, rape, and possible murders as byproduct of his sites.
Operation Anti-Bully. Operation Hunt Hunter engaged. We are Anonymous, we are Legion, we do not Forgive, we do not Forget, Hunter Moore, EXPECT US.
Anonymous has been known to “dox,” or publish personal information, about its targets in the past—much in the same way Mr. Moore’s new site will. But given the collective’s powerful anti-bullying campaign in the wake of Amanda Todd’s suicide, it’s interesting to see Anon’s “hacktivist” impulses once again triggered by the powerless.
We’ve reached out to Mr. Moore for his reaction to Anonymous’ news and will update when we hear back. We also interviewed KY Anonymous, who launched the attack on Mr. Moore, and will be publishing that interview later Monday.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/54696809 w=500&h=281]
Anonymous Message to Hunter Moore from kentucky anon on Vimeo.
