KATIE Price has said it “breaks her heart” when vicious trolls target her disabled son Harvey as she shared fears that she “can’t protect her children”.
The 42-year-old star has been tirelessly campaigning for harsher consequences for online abuse, with 18-year-old Harvey subjected to it for years.
Katie opened up about her heartache over the trolling her children receive in a new film for Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4.
The mother-of-five said in the clip: “When people ask me about trolls and how do I cope with it and deal with things. To be honest, I’ve been trolled so many times myself and I’m used to it.
“As a mother, it’s so hard to know I can’t protect and shield my children and it breaks my heart what I have to read and go through with my children, especially Harvey because he just gets abuse.”
The concerned star continued: “Recently this couple did this horrific video on Harvey, they even put make-up on their face, they rehearsed the eye movement he does and watched the way he spoke.”
Katie is referencing a video that was shared on Instagram and TikTok last year, featuring a man in blackface pretending to be her teen son.
A man was arrested in November for posting the clip, but the couple who feature in the actual footage are yet to be tracked down.
And it’s not just Harvey who is targeted online, with Katie’s 15-year-old son Junior – who she shares with ex Peter Andre – also revealing vile abuse he received last month.
Sick messages that were sent via Instagram told Junior to kill himself – and also used derogatory slurs against his big brother.
Harvey’s disabilities include ADHD, autism, genetic condition Prader-Willi Syndrome and septo-optic dysplasia, which causes blindness – and he has been victim to cruel abuse for years.
Katie launched her campaign for Harvey’s Law in 2017, and has even taken it to Parliament.
As well as sick jibes about his disabilities, Harvey is also subjected to racism – with Katie campaigning for the government to change the law to tackle online trolls.
She has called for the “virtual bullying” to be stamped out with a new law, which would see social media users have to hand over details to end anonymous abuse.
Katie has also called for abusers to be “named and shamed” on a register where employers can check for improper behaviour online.
The star previously admitted that she believes trolls “get a kick” out of being exposed for posting abuse online.
She said during an appearance on This Morning: “I’d love to go and meet some of these trolls, it’s something I’d want to do – ask them what goes through their head? Why would they want to sit there and make these comments and videos? What are they getting out of it?”
Calling for every social media account to require an official ID upon signing up, Katie continued: “At the moment, they can close you down but you can open another account and just start using again.
“And I think the more you say it hurts… sometimes it just encourages them. Especially when I have named and shamed a few of them, I think they get a kick out of it.
“That is why I am doing what I am doing – as soon as something is in place, as soon as these trolls know that you will get fined or put on a register, or you could even go to prison and get a criminal record, I do think it will slow down.
“But at the moment there is nothing in place so people think it’s funny – also, the people who retweet them are just as bad, I don’t know what they get out of it.”
