Don’t ‘troll the poll’: Justin Bieber could be banned from Triple J’s Hottest 100

TAYLOR Swift was shunned, now Justin Bieber could be banned from Triple J’s Hottest 100 as the broadcaster pleads with people not to “troll the poll”.

Justin Bieber

TAYLOR Swift was shunned, now it remains to be seen whether Justin Bieber will be banned from Triple J’s Hottest 100.

Voting for the annual countdown has opened, but the station has amended its rules to encourage listeners not to “troll the poll” after Swift was disqualified last year.

But one online bookmaker is cashing in on the contest’s cool factor, starting a #Bieber4Hottest100 campaign to get the pop superstar on the list.

The campaign drew Bieber’s attention and he has shared the company’s tweet with his 71 million Twitter followers. It has now been retweeted more than 15,000 times, prompting the betting company to slash the odds of him winning.

#Bieber4Hottest100? Justin Bieber has THREE songs in our #Hottest100 market. Read More: https://t.co/wWP8RXnFaf pic.twitter.com/wvUmau5dwp

— William Hill Aus (@WillHillAus) December 9, 2015

The countdown’s guidelines say any campaign that undermines the Hottest 100 may be disqualified or ignored. Acting Triple J manager Meagan Loader says the station is monitoring the situation.

“We want genuine votes from genuine listeners,” she said. “It isn’t fair to Triple J listeners or artists whose songs could be undermined when campaigns try to incentivise votes or troll the poll.

“We’ll keep an eye on it and if we feel the outcome of the Hottest 100 has been manipulated votes may be disqualified or ignored.”

Songs can be selected from the station’s voting list or listeners can add their own.

In 2014, Swift was scratched from the poll for several reasons, after international media company Buzzfeed ran a #Tay4Hottest100 campaign. The company had tried to influence the publicly voted poll by getting her single Shake It Off onto the list.

Swift’s song had never been played on the station, but at least one of Bieber’s tracks has been played, with his Grammy-nominated collaboration with Skrillex and Diplo, Where Are U Now, in the running.