It was the internet that brought fame and fortune to Bieber, whose mother began posting home-made videos of him singing on the internet when he was just 12.
He attracted an army of fans online, with his videos attracting more than 10 million views, and at the age of 13 he was discovered by Scooter Braun, his future manager.
But the web has also been the source of Bieber's harshest criticism, with the singer having been targeted by a remarkable number of malicious campaigns and pranks.
Dozens of groups on Facebook are dedicated to spreading and promoting hatred of the teenager, while a number of websites and blogs raise questions over his sexuality, generally referencing his clean-cut appearance and the fact he is single.
His website was targeted by pranksters who hijacked an online poll asking where he should tour next, resulting in half a million people voting to send him to North Korea.
The same group behind the action, 4Chan, also encouraged its readers to search for the phrase "Justin Bieber Syphilis" on Google to make it number one on the search engine's trending list.
Most recently, YouTube – the source of his success – was hit by hackers who focused on Bieber's music videos, redirecting users to adult websites and placing banner messages saying he had died.
One reason behind the revulsion Bieber attracts could be his phenomenal success at such a young age.
Bieber, the only child of a single mother from Ontario, Canada, was signed by Usher, the singer and producer, when aged 13 and his first single, One Time, reached the top 30 in more than 10 countries.
His debut album, My World, went platinum in the US and gave him seven singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech, which his detractors say is more suited to rappers than someone of his middle-class background.
A Facebook page entitled "I Hate Justin Bieber" has more than 180,000 fans and includes discussion topics such as "Justin Bieber sings like a girl" and "ways to kill Justin".
Those who are not enamoured by Bieber can even download a "shaved Bieber" application for their internet browser that blocks out any mention of the pop star while they surf the internet.
The add-on, available on Firefox, automatically removes any instances of the words "Bieber" or "Justin Bieber" on web pages, along with any photos that include the words as part of their file name.
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