Cher Lloyd: Government needs to stop Twitter bullies

Cher Lloyd has said that the government is not doing enough to tackle online bullying. The singer, who has been a victim of online verbal abuse since her rise to fame on The X Factor, insisted that not enough has been done to protect young people from vicious comments.

The 18-year-old told BBC Newsbeat: “It disgusts me that online bullying – nobody really cares about it. No-one has made a big enough impact to stop these people. I’d definitely like to see more done about it.”

When asked who she thinks should help young people tackle the issue, Lloyd responded: “I kind of think it’s the government.”

The ‘Swagger Jagger’ star revealed that she is learning to cope with web-based criticism and malicious comments, following one Twitter user threatening her mother with violence last week.

“It’s one thing writing to me. I’m getting stronger with this stuff, I can take it on the chin but there are girls out there and boys out there that can’t take that,” she explained.

“It’s funny to say, how do you cope with it? Because I don’t cope with it. It’s really hard.”

She added: “If I get a nasty tweet, or if someone shouts at me in the street that’s really disrespectful to me or my family, I kind of wait until I go home. You shut the door and then you can have a cry about it. No-one needs to know.”

Cher Lloyd recently debuted her new single ‘With Ur Love’, which will be released in the UK on November 7.

Cher Lloyd (Scanpix / Ian West)