Justin Bieber warns Instagram followers over their hatred towards his new 'girlfriend' Sofia Richie

If you don't want Justin Bieber to make his Instagram account private, then he has a simple solution for you— don't publicly hate the people he 'likes'. 

Recently, when Justin Bieber got upset over the comments (most of them were about Sofia and the pair's potential relationship status) he received on a series of selfies he shared with his alleged new girlfriend — 17-year-old Sofia Richie, daughter of Lionel Richie — he threatened to privatize his Instagram account if his fans 'didn't stop the hate that was going out of hand.'

The 22-year-old singer wrote: '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.' 

Although there has been no confirmation of a romance between Bieber and Sofia, they have been seen together on a number of occasions including on Sunday when they walked hand in hand at a mall in Tokyo, Japan.

Image: Sofia Richie proved her model credentials by sporting an over-sized cardigan adorned with bold colors

Bieber's fans are seriously upset over him putting 'a girl he just met' before the fans that have supported him through thick and thin and, thus, the 'beliebers' have their own response— they created the hashtag #RIPBeliebers and it has been trending on Twitter ever since.

Just last week, Bieber and Sofia spent time together in California, a few days after the Canadian was joined by a number of beautiful models in Hawaii at a $4,000-a-night mansion. 

By now, you must be wondering who Sofia is. If you are then here's something for you. She is a model and she began modeling in 2014 (at the age of 15.) Sofia was signed to L.A. Models and Select Model Management by the end of the year. Along with multiple high-end editorials and a couple of fashion magazine covers appearances, she was personally selected by Stella McCartney to attend the 2015 Met Ball as one of her guests. Her work was appreciated so much that Madonna chose her as the face of her clothing line, Material Girl, later that year. Sofia could very well turn out to be the next big thing in the fashion and modeling industry. Check out her cover of Adele's 'Turning Tables' below.

Video: Sofia Richie sings Adele's Turning Tables at the age of 13

Bieber recently visited Japan for his two concerts at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba on August 13 and 14 as part of his Purpose world tour.