Justin Bieber has deleted his Instagram account, after complaining about fan behavior. Now, the Beliebers are firing back.

This time, it wasn’t enough for the Biebz to storm off a stage in Norway. This time, he stormed off the internet. After warning his followers to stop sending his friend Sofia Richie mean comments, he’s now deleted his Instagram account completely.

“I’m gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don’t stop the hate this is getting out of hand. If you guys are really fans you wouldn’t be so mean to people that I like,” wrote Bieber — likely forgetting that the vast majority of his ‘real’ fans did not actually harass the girl in question.

It seemed that his decision to delete/privatize his account wasn’t made entirely because of the fans, however, but rather due to a heated exchange with ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez.

Gomez wrote in the comments of one of the pictures, “If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol – It should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you and supported you before any one ever did.”

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Bieber replied, “It’s funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love.”

And then his account vanished.

The situation is made even more absurd because this is just the latest in a series of temper tantrums aimed against his fans (as opposed to, say, the cold and cynical press). Bieber has also recently cancelled all meet-and-greets, and is refusing to accept gifts from his fans.

And, much like Bieber himself, it looks like the fans have actually had enough — at least if the trending Twitter topic #JustinDeactivatedParty is anything to go by.

Here are some of the tweets by bemused fans:

Aside from being tongue-in-cheek, these tweets (and the many more we didn’t include) all express the same sentiment: What are you supposed to feel when your idol cuts off fan access, in an age where celebrity is so intrinsically tied to fandom?

On one hand, you can’t blame someone in Justin Bieber’s position for being fed up with the constant attentions — equally intense whether they’ve positive or negative — of his fans. Whether he’s leaving a hotel, performing a show, or posting something on Instagram, that barrage of emotion hits him like a brick, and he’s young. He wants a break from it all, but he also wants to be an artist.

And this is where the disillusioned fans have a point: The reason Justin Bieber has amassed such absurd levels of cash and fame is because of his ability to draw crowds and engage his target audience. Bieber is what he is because of the ‘Beliebers,’ and to see him rise to the top on the shoulders of his adoring fans, only then to cast their hands off (literally), is troubling.

At this point, does Bieber ‘owe’ his fans anything? Or is he in the right for tone-policing his followers, and punishing them when they don’t follow his rules?