"I've actually never really talked about this, but there was one meme that really affected me, of me walking into a hotel with a pizza box in my hand. And this photo got manipulated into a character from 'Family Guy' with the long legs and the short torso, and it was one of the most widespread memes at the time," she told Hunger magazine.
"Everyone was making fun of my body, and I brought it up with someone and they were like, 'Oh, shut the f**k up, it's funny'," she continued.
"And I just remember sitting there and thinking, my body is being used as a joke and it's something that I can't change about who I am, and it is being posted all over Instagram. It was something so benign as walking into a hotel with leftovers. And to this day, when I see that meme, it's something very hard for me to overcome."
The actress said the anxiety she experienced when being photographed led her to retreat from the spotlight.
"I basically became a recluse. It was great because I got away from the photographers and I was able to be myself, and to have so many experiences that people didn't photograph, but at the same time it made me severely anxious when I was photographed.
"My heart rate would rise and I would hyperventilate."
She also pointed out that conditions such as body dysmorphia are "extrapolated by the issues of social media". "It's a headf**k," she added in the interview.
Moretz got her big break in "Kick-Ass" when she was only 12 and she has been in the public eye since then.
She is no stranger to red carpets, dazzling with her stunning outfits in every single one of them, and she is no stranger to having cameras on her, and seeing her photos everywhere.
If someone like Moretz suffers this deeply with the impact of a viral meme mocking her, imagine what is it like for all the "regular" people accidentally going viral these days for their mishaps (thanks to platforms like TikTok, that happens a lot).
I don't know what the answer to this problem is but we can't keep pretending there is no issue here, that is all par for the course, that it is the price you pay for being online or for being a celebrity.
I don't mean to sound like your mum (although, please do eat your greens, drink some water and get to bed early, for goodness' sake), but we should not mock anyone for anything, much less mock someone's body just for a laugh.
Moretz' experience is an example of how a cruel joke, which thousands will share without batting an eyelid, just because they think is funny, can impact someone, long after the meme stops showing up on your feed.
