By Elizabeth Culliford

(Reuters) – Facebook (NASDAQ) on Tuesday revealed for the first-time that bullying and harassment were common on its platform. According to Facebook, such content was seen anywhere from 14-15 times per 10,000 page views in the third quarter.

Meta was recently renamed to the company. It also stated that it saw bullying and harassing content between five and six times per 10,000 Instagram posts.

Social media giant Facebook has long been under fire for its handling of abuses. Frances Haugen, a whistleblower and former employee, leaked documents from within the company. These documents include discussions and research on Instagram’s effect on teens’ mental health and whether Facebook encourages divisions.

Haugen claims that documents reveal the company prioritized profits over user safety. Facebook refuted this claim, claiming that the documents were used to create a false picture.

These documents were reported first by Wall Street Journal. They have prompted calls for Facebook transparency and raised concerns about whether prevalence metrics, such as those used to measure abuse, are accurate. (https://on.wsj.com/3C1D7Cr)

Facebook stated that it only collected instances of bullying or harassment where additional information was not required, like a user’s report, in order to make a decision about whether the content violated its rules.

According to them, out of 9.2 Million pieces of content that Facebook removed for violating its harassment and bullying rules, 59.4% were removed proactively.

Antigone Davis, the global head of safety for the company, stated that harassment and bullying are unique challenges and must be addressed because the context is crucial. Amit Bhattacharyya is the product management director.