10 Stupid Internet Hoaxes That People Actually Believed
9. #CutForBieber
In one of the most controversial online hoaxes ever, Justin Bieber fans (also known as Beliebers) were encouraged in a Twitter campaign to cut for Bieber. There had been a recent news story that the popular singer had been caught smoking marijuana, causing a notable backlash from his fan group. An anonymous individual had the idea to start a fake campaign with the hashtag #cutforbieber, causing many users to share tweets with the tag and images of cut arms and wrists. The #cutforbieber hashtag began to trend, and it appeared that several genuine Bieber fans latched onto the false campaign. Mainstream news outlets began to report on the terrible trend, which featured many young girls posting images of themselves after cutting. It soon emerged that the whole thing started as a hoax, but that did little to subdue the fact that several young people had been manipulated into harming themselves as part of the sick joke.
