Teenage son of Lebanese MP Gebran Bassil speaks out against cyberbullying

"All of you know who my father is. [A] very controversial man. There are a lot of people who do not like him and so have decided to go on my Instagram and cyberbully me," the 14-year-old Gabriel Bassil said in a viral video.

"I'm confused, because what did I do? If you're going to hate my father it's not like I can stop you, right? I love my own father, but I’m not… I'm a fourteen year old child. What did I do?" the young boy says.

His father, the leader of the largest parliamentary block – The Free Patriotic Movement – became the object of widescale scorns and insults with the onset of the October protests.

Protestors accuse Bassil of nepotism, racism and corruption.

Twitter Post

After the video circulated, many concerned Lebanese took to social media calling on haters of the political leader to refrain from targeting his minor children. 

"Guys, I fully understand the hatred towards Gebran Bassil. I hate him too. But please keep in mind that his son is 14 years old. He's being bullied so much on social media," one twitter user wrote.

"I feel bad about your son Gabriel! The only reason to be bullied is being the son of a monster," another person tweeted to Gebran Bassil.

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Others accused the member of Parliament of "forcing" his son to upload the video to "draw sympathy", citing the absence of detectable public bullying prior to the video.

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