Multifamily Blogs
Airbnb is Banning White Supremacists - Should Multifamily Operators Follow Suit?
Airbnb is Banning White Supremacists - Should Multifamily Operators Follow Suit?
Following the protests, counter protests, and violence in Charlottesville, Airbnb has begun purging people associated with the Unite the Right Free Speech Rally. Specifically, Airbnb asks their users to sign a commitment to "accept people regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age", which applies to guests, as well as those renting their property on Airbnb. It is unclear what the threshold for being banned might be, whether it is merely participating in a rally or involved in actual violence, and it is also unclear how Airbnb will monitor those who abuse their terms of service in that regard.
On Bloomberg TV, the co-founder of Airbnb, Nathan Blecharczyk, said that "hate displayed this week has been shocking". He continued, " We make every one of our users sign a pledge when they sign up that they will not discriminate and exhibit hatred. Whenever we become aware of such examples they are permanently banned from platform."
Considering that Airbnb already has begun to tie in with multifamily operators, this already affects the multifamily sector. But even beyond that, I'm curious as to what you all think:
Do you think that Airbnb should have taken this stance?
Do you think multifamily properties should be following suit and take a more active role in restricting renting to those who are part of these types of groups?
About the author
