Airbnb Reveals Policies and Products to Combat Its Racism Problem
Skift Take
It’s encouraging to see Airbnb tackle this issue head on and try to effect some real changes but we wonder if the company is taking enough steps to make a major difference.
On Sept. 8, months after battling intense scrutiny and criticism of its efforts to combat discrimination on its online platform, Airbnb announced several changes to its policies and platform in an attempt to make it more difficult for hosts to discriminate against guests on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or age.
The San Francisco-based company released the details of its new policies in a 32-page report authored by Laura W. Murphy, the former director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s legislative office in Washington, D.C. and a former director of tourism for the District of Columbia.
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In the report, Murphy outlines the company’s new nondiscrimination policy, which is “stronger than what is required by law” as well as a new Airbnb Community Commitment, which all users must agree to beginning Nov. 1.
It clearly states: “By joining this community, you commit to treat all fellow members of this community regardless of race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age, with respect, and without judgment or bias.”
Responding to Criticism
The report was a direct response to issues and incidents of discrimination that have been noted as taking place on the platform as early as 2014. Researchers at the Harvard Business School highlighted the possibility of racial discrimination against hosts by guests using the platform in 2014, and their study found that hosts who were not African American could charge 12 percent more, on average, with everything else being equal, than those who were African American.
Those same researchers also released a study in December 2015 that showed Airbnb guests who had African American-sounding names had a much more difficult time being approved by hosts for reservations than those guests with more white-sounding names, even when all of their other information and messaging was exactly the same.
Numerous cases of discrimination against Airbnb guests from hosts have been documented and publicized this year alone
