For the first time, Facebook published the prevalence of bullying and harassment on its social media platform on Tuesday, saying that such content was viewed between 14 and 15 times per 10,000 views on the site in the third quarter of this year.
The social media giant, which recently changed its name to Meta, also mentioned in its quarterly content moderation report that bullying and harassment content was viewed between 5 and 6 times per 10,000 views of content on Instagram.
Facebook said its bullying and harassment figures only covered cases where the social media platform did not require additional information, such as a user’s report, to decide whether the content violated its social media rules.
In addition, the social media platform said that of the 9.2 million content removed from Facebook for violating its bullying and harassment rules, 59.4% were proactive.
Facebook is facing intense scrutiny over how it deals with abuse in its services, highlighted by former employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen, who leaked internal documents that included research and discussions about how Instagram negatively impacts teen mental health and whether Facebook’s platforms fuel division.
Haugen has accused Facebook of putting profit before the well-being of its users.
The documents, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, have led to calls for greater transparency from the social media giant and raised concerns about whether its metrics provide the full picture of how it handles abuse.