Justin Bieber smoking weed #cutforbieber trend started as a 4chan joke

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Posters on the internet board 4chan aren't exactly known for being the arbiters of taste, but the latest viral prank to come from the community may have hit a new low.

After photos surfaced of Justin Bieber apparently smoking pot, members of 4chan launched a campaign #CutforBieber, encouraging fans to harm themselves in an attempt to get the pop singer to dump his weed habit.

"Lets start a cut yourself for bieber campaign," an anonymous user wrote on 4chan's controversial /b/ board (link NSFW). "Tweet a bunch of pics of people cutting themselves and claim we did it because bieber was smoking weed. See if we can get some little girls to cut themselves."

(Slate takes a good look at what exactly about that /b/ board is so enthralling.)

When someone was able to trace the trend back to 4chan, the original post was deleted.

"OP DELETE THIS THREAD, WE HAVE BEEN SPOTTED," someone responded, but the original post has was captured in a screenshot.

The campaign got enough attention, although much of it negative, to get #cutforBieber into the trending topics on Twitter in the U.S.

#cutforbieber? Cutting is NOT something to joke about. There are people who are actually suffering from self-harm, this is so disrespectful.

— Official CANCER(@OfficialCANCER) January 7, 2013

#selfharm is no joke. All children have the right to a safe and protective environment. #cutforbieber

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) January 8, 2013

This is probably the most naive immature thing I have ever witnessed. Don't #cutforbieber. Cutting is a serious issue not a gimmick.

— marissa jean(@Marissa_Jean) January 8, 2013

Some people actually suffer from self-harm and it's SO freakin disrespectful to #cutforbieber.

— Venus Angelic (@VenusAngelic) January 8, 2013

Some people had a little more fun with the trend, posting images of themselves cutting paper, their nails, and of course, weed.

i cut for @justinbieber #cutforbieber twitter.com/gemmadeighan/s…

— ♡GEM♡ (@gemmadeighan) January 8, 2013

#cutforbieber we got you Justin @justinbieber twitter.com/shelbeysparrow…

— Shelbey Sparrow (@shelbeysparrow) January 8, 2013

I #cutforbieber too okay? #Believe twitter.com/thejianhaotan/…

— Jaime Tan JianHao (@thejianhaotan) January 8, 2013

So far, Bieber has ignored the whole thing.

A similar prank by another anonymous Internet poster started a #baldforBieber frenzy, attempting to convince Bieber's fans the star had been diagnosed with cancer and that they should shave their heads in solidarity.