Bullied Australian schoolboy Quaden Bayles has come under attack from trolls and conspiracy theorists accusing the boy of actually being a grown man.
His mum has hit back at the cruel online theories about her son after a video of him sobbing about being bullied went viral.
Quaden, who lives with a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, went viral overnight after a heartbreaking video of him expressing suicidal thoughts broke hearts around the world.
In the footage posted online by his mum, the young boy says he is sick of cruel jibes over his appearance and admits he wants to die.
After the footage of him crying hysterically went viral, kind strangers raised thousands to send him and his mum to Disneyland.
Quaden has since been showered with support from around the globe as the public and celebrities rally around him.
American comedian Brad Williams' crowd fundraiser has raised more than £250,000 for Quaden since the viral video emerged on Thursday.
The money raised will be used to send the boy and his mum for a holiday in Disneyland California, and the rest will be given to anti-bullying charities.
And Australian X-Men star Hugh Jackman was among celebs who publicly posted a message of encouragement for Quaden after his mum's viral Facebook post this week. The star also urged bullies to be kinder.
The schoolboy has since taken centre stage at a rugby league match on the Gold Coast in Australia this weekend.
Quaden, who is a Murri Aboriginal Queenslander, led the NRL Indigenous All Stars side out on to the field before they played New Zealand's Maori All Stars in the clash.
But even as Quaden's star rises, his mother Yarraka Bayles is being forced to fend off conspiracy theories about her son's age.
False rumours began to emerge almost as soon as his video began going viral that Quaden is actually an adult, not a child.
Social media users spread screenshots of Facebook posts, pictures and video mash-ups claiming to provide 'evidence' that he is actually a grown man.
The posts accusing his mum of posing Quaden as a child and scamming the public are surging on Facebook and Twitter.
But the theories have provoked a backlash, with many Twitter users leaping to the Bayles' family's defence and warning those spreading the rumours of the existence of 'deepfakes.'
The increasingly sophisticated Internet distortion phenomenon can see doctored pictures and video spread online like wildfire.
While it is unclear whether Quaden has been the target of deepfake techniques, many of the pictures are taken from his real Instagram page have been reused misleadingly to boost the conspiracy theories.
In one post, images of the boy have been spliced into a montage overlaid with hiphop music in an effort to suggest he is actually a grown man.
Another post spreading online pictures Quaden at an 18th birthday party, claiming it is actually his celebration.
The rumours have spread thick and fact, despite numerous previous stories about Quaden - showing him as a younger child and clearly identifying his age - being readily available just a few clicks away.
Reports in Australia over the years centred on the youngster and his family as they raised awareness of dwarfism.
The reports clearly confirm he is a child, including pictures of him as a five-year-old from news stories four years ago which show Quaden with his front baby teeth missing.
There is also footage available online of four-year-old Quaden at age four playing with toys on an Australian TV show, which his mum appeared on to raise awareness about dwarfism.
But by this weekend she was being forced to defend her son from online bullies yet again.
Several accounts have even sprung up around Instagram and Twitter in the days since Quaden's video went viral.
Yarakka was pushed to react overnight after a Twitter account claiming to be the 'real' Quaden under a different name emerged.
The account posted a series of gloating tweets claiming to be a rapper posing as the boy who had scammed the public for money.
At least one has posted GoFundMe page links in an attempt to profit off Quaden's image.
His mum hit out on Facebook at the conspiracy theories about her boy.
The Daily Mail Australia reports that Yarakka took to the social media platform to criticise the trolls and warned about scam pages.
Yarakka reportedly shared a post written by a woman who has known Quaden since before his video went viral.
The post said: "Yes he's nine. Dwarfism is not a joke. Is he a model or actor?... so are a lot of kids... that doesn't mean s**t.
"His mother made the post because she was overwhelmed and enraged with the bullying. I understand her to the fullest.
"Never did she ask for money... Never did they say they were broke. Never did they ask for this."
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