Dua Lipa has described Internet trolls in America as "brutal" and "the worst".
The New Rules hitmaker has enjoyed a stellar rise to fame over the past three years and is now one of the hottest young singers in the music industry.
She's also made a name for herself Stateside, but has now told America's Elle magazine that the negative remarks she receives from Internet users in the U.S. are much worse than in her native U.K.
"They're brutal," she sighed. "The trolls Stateside are the worst. When I was starting out, I never remember feeling hate. Then things got big, and I felt this weird expectation of being Beyonce already. Everything you're doing gets looked at under a magnifying glass. People want to stunt your growth. They scrutinise you and tell you what you should look like or what you should do or ask, 'Why did you cut your hair?' You constantly live in fear of not being good enough."
Dua added that she has had to build up a "really strong" exterior in order to cope with the horrid comments.
"We're in this age of, 'Feminism! You should be supporting each other!' But it's the same people who are saying that who are also bringing women down online," the 23-year-old raged. "And it's the same people who speak about mental health who are also bullying others. Twitter is super-toxic. I find myself having to take time off to be able to be creative. Don't get me wrong, I have amazing fans and I get really nice comments, but you always think about the one bad one."
The stunning brunette has been enjoying advice from many well-established singers since breaking out, including Chris Martin and Katy Perry, with the Firework singer actually once urging her to never search for her own name online.
"Reading those things is a form of self-abuse. It's this vicious cycle where you don't want to read it, but you go looking for it, then you get yourself upset," she explained. "I can't let the opinions of others define what I feel about myself. That's something I'm constantly telling my fans as well. Platform or no platform, musician or not, everyone's getting bullied because everyone's got this screen and they feel like no one can see them."
