Globe-trotting schoolgirl, 14, who became one of UK’s youngest birdwatchers hits back at online trolls sending her vile Islamophobic tweets
Mya-Rose Craig says torrent of abuse has 'hit her hard'
A SCHOOLGIRL who travels the world birdwatching has told how she has become the victim of vile racist abuse from online trolls.
Mya-Rose Craig, 14, writes a popular blog about her passion which has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.
Its success has seen her become a target of hate with attacks intensifying in recent months.
The schoolgirl, from Compton Martin, Somerset, - who tweets under the name BirdgirlUK - is now considering giving up social media for good.
She said: "At its worst, I get about four or five a day.
"It got really bad when I was slightly older. Some of the abuse was racist and Islamophobic.
"My parents try and stop me from looking at them, but I'm getting more and more of them.
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"On the internet, people seem to find the courage to say nasty things.
"Some of it is really quite shocking. I can be scrolling through Twitter and there are these comments, and it can really ruin your entire day.
"Some of it is horrible, but I try to look past it and just block them.
"It just hits me really hard. A lot of the time - even though I'm getting more of it now - the abuse can be completely unexpected.
"It can ruin your day or week, and I find it really hard to understand why people think they can do that to someone else.
"I feel strongly about my religion. It's part of who I am, and it's just really upsetting.
"I think it's the accumulation of abuse. If you get one or two, you just deal with it. But when you keep getting them, and it doesn't stop, then it just builds up."
Mya-Rose’s family say the attacks became more personal, hateful and frequent following Brexit, her family said.
Now her parents Helena and Chris have to carefully supervise her online accounts and regularly delete or hide the most hateful comments before she sees them.
The teenage twitcher has travelled to Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Egypt, Malaysia, Majorca and Australia looking for wildlife.
In 2015 she became the youngest person in the world to have seen 4,000 birds when she spotted the a red-throated tit at Swara Plains, in Kenya.
Mya-Rose said the criticism began when she took part in a BBC documentary aged just seven.
After the programme a thread was set up on a popular birdwatching forum to criticise her, and amassed 800 comments and 85,000 views before it was shut down.
Her parents say the messages on social media are mostly too offensive to repeat, but include comments about hijabs and the Middle East.
Mum Helena, a retired partner in a law firm said: "They are just vile. We taught Mya to look past it and never to be a troll herself.
"If she doesn't like something, just leave it.
"There are a huge number of very supportive people that we are thankful for, and a lot of people who tell us to ignore it.
"But the abuse is constant.
"Recently, Mya has been thinking about shutting down all of her social media, but I told her to give it some space and to reflect.
"She understands, and feels strongly about it, but she is not letting it ruin her life."
Mya hopes to see 5,400 birds - half of the world's birds - by the time she is 18, and wants to be a nature TV presenter when she grows up.
She added: "In the end these people are sending me all of these messages - and they do have an impact on me and how I feel - but I refuse to let them have a long-term impact on me, and affect me.
"I've the hope that one day it will stop and people will realise this is not acceptable."
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