Playboy model Kourtney Reppert has urged the public to be more careful with how they talk to people online, insisting "we are all human".
The blonde beauty says it's clear some people feel "comfort" by the screen they can hide behind and believes online bullying has become a big issue.
The 36-year-old admitted she has had to learn to deal with regular messages throughout her career and says she would like to see more done to stop how easy it is for people to abuse others on social media.
She candidly told The Mirror how she has had to do "a lot of inner work" in the past decade as she continued to grow her impressive online following of almost two million Instagram followers.
"It's a travesty to have to fight through your own personal issues that you have going and learning who you really are, to then having other people, strangers, try and define who you are with their judgement," she confessed.
However, she believes she has found the right mindset to deal with it, whereas not everyone is able to do so.
She continued: "For me now, looking back, I've gone through a lot of the growing pains of bullying and have tried to not allowing that negative energy to enter my mind because that is the one thing that I protect the most."
Kourtney revealed how the pull of social media can "make your mind wander" if you allow it which can in turn create a vortex of negativity.
"I think a lot of people feel that they can [bully online] because they're behind a screen and they have some sort of barrier between revealing what they would do in real life versus what they would really do with their minds," she insisted.
"It is such a tricky topic because in some ways we need to live in a society that should allow all sides all views, but only if you're not threatening or causing harm."
She insists she doesn't want to completely censor people, but she wants them to stop and think about the actual harm their words and actions online can have on others.
"Whether or not we look perfect on the outside people could be hurting on the inside. And I think that's why people should be mindful of what they say and how they say it. I think there can be a huge improvement on talking about these things.
"I think that there needs to just be more talking about it. Because I think people just hide that part of social media a lot."
Shockingly, Kourtney revealed it wasn't just members of the public who should heed the message, either. She claimed some in the industry had also targeted her, especially following her weight gain after becoming a mother.
Describing how she had stayed natural in her appearance up until 2018 when she had reconstructive surgery following the birth of her son, she said some fellow models would leave nasty comments in her private messages.
"I would get random DMS about my scar, my tummy tuck scar, you know, because it was obviously something I had to do to get reconstructive surgery from being a mom.
"And it was one thing I had to fight over in my mind of 'oh, do I like all this extra loose skin or am I going to be okay with having a scar' and of course, my decision was the best decision for me, which was getting a tummy tuck and now I have a scar that I live with.
"It's affected a lot of who I am mentally, you know, just putting on a bikini."
But, defiantly, she insisted she is proud of who she is, labelling herself a "Ferrari," before saying "you wouldn't throw away the car just because it had a ding on it".
And she added that if it wasn't for those people who "hated" on her, she might not have went on to make the decisions she has in her career.
"The bullying and the hate and all that. There's a such a fine line and sometimes those things can actually someone better. Like the more haters I have, the better I become," she proudly stated.
Concluding, she confessed the mantra she always follows when it comes to what others say: "I don't allow hate to affect my heart and I don't allow compliments to get to my head."
* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
