Justin Bieber's "My World Tour" Twitter voting contest asked fans to vote on which country he should tour next, without restriction on which countries could be included in the vote. 4chan smelled opportunity: Anonymous nominated North Korea, then the boards clickswarmed. At the time of this blog post, more than half a million votes now demand the Canadian singer go do his thing on Kim Jong Il's party train.

I can't tell what's funnier, the Bieb stunt or the Beeb's coverage:





The contest, which ends at 1800 on 7 July, saw North Korea move from 24th to 1st place in less than two days, several thousand votes ahead of Israel. Given the fact that almost all citizens of North Korea are denied internet access and there are restrictive controls over all media, it is unlikely that any of the votes have actually come from within the country. A spokesman for the North Korean Embassy in London told BBC News that any application for 16-year-old Bieber to tour would be dealt with by its mission to the United Nations, although the matter would be referred to Pyongyang.

Thank you for reminding us this is serious bizness, BBC News. Anyway, if the prank's outcome really does obligate Bieber to go to North Korea—hey, fair's fair— let's just hope he stays there. Just one day left for votes, as I publish this blog post!

Also: 4chan's been busy with this guy. Ars Technica reports on a related attack that exploited a YouTube vulnerability.