Meta Gives Estimate of Bullying, Harassment on Its Platforms for First Time

Meta, previously often called Facebook, for the primary time on Tuesday disclosed the prevalence of bullying and harassment on its platform, saying such content material was seen between 14 and 15 occasions per each 10,000 views on the positioning within the third quarter.

The firm, which not too long ago modified its identify to Meta, additionally said in its quarterly content material moderation report that bullying and harassment content material was seen between 5 and 6 occasions per 10,000 views of content material on Instagram.

The social media large, lengthy underneath scrutiny over its dealing with of abuses on its providers, has been within the highlight after a former worker and whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked inside paperwork that embrace analysis and discussions about Instagram’s results on the psychological well being of teenagers and on whether or not Meta’s platforms stoke divisions.

Haugen has stated the paperwork present the corporate picked earnings over consumer security. Meta disputed this characterization, saying the paperwork had been getting used to color a “false picture.”

The paperwork, which had been first reported by the Wall Street Journal, have spurred requires Meta to be extra clear and have raised questions over whether or not metrics corresponding to prevalence give the total image of how the corporate handles abuses.

Meta stated its bullying and harassment numbers solely captured situations the place the corporate didn’t want further data, corresponding to a report from a consumer, to determine if the content material broke its guidelines.

They stated that of the 9.2 million items of content material the corporate faraway from Meta for breaking its bullying and harassment guidelines, it discovered 59.4 % proactively.

“Bullying and harassment is a unique challenge and one of the most complex issues to address because context is critical,” the corporate’s international head of security, Antigone Davis, and product administration director Amit Bhattacharyya stated in a weblog put up.

© Thomson Reuters 2021