Developer invents Bieber blocker to eliminate pop sensation from the web

It’s been a disastrous week for Justin Bieber but his misfortune has provided an opportunity for a great bit of topical PR for a developer from Canada.

Greg Leuch, from Free Art and Technology Lab, has created a Firefox web browser add-on that censors any mention of Justin Bieber’s name on the internet, as well as blocking out any images of the pop sensation.

Given that Bieber is very much a love-him-or-hate-him phenomenon, I’m betting the tool will be welcomed and reviled in equal measure – which is great news for Leuch, as it can only enhance the coverage he gains.

Such a controversial and openly hostile statement is sure to generate a backlash from Bieber’s army of 35 million Twitter followers, and we all know that backlash = headlines.

Discussing the “Shaved Bieber” add-on, Leuch said: ‘We’ve developed a series of innovative tools to help cover the lower regions of web pages from unwanted Justin Bieber content.’

‘Shave away those Bieber mentions on web sites with our bookmarklet, Firefox Add-on, or JavaScript files.’

The story has already seen coverage in Metro.

Topical