In a 32-page report, Airbnb said that it would institute a new nondiscrimination policy that goes beyond what is outlined in several anti-discrimination laws and that it would ask all users to agree to a “community commitment” starting on Nov. 1, reports The New York Times.
The commitment asks people to work with others who use the service, “regardless of race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age.”
In addition, the company plans to experiment with reducing the prominence of user photos, which have helped signal race and gender.
Airbnb said it would also accelerate the use of instant bookings, which lets renters book places immediately without host approval.
From a libertarian perspective, Airbnb can certainly institute any policies it wants but why is it preventing its hosts from instituting any selection policies they chose?
No doubt, the company is feeling pressure from Social Justice Warriors armed with pressure from the state.
NYT informs:
The actions are a response by Airbnb to questions about discrimination that have threatened to cloud the company’s fast growth. In December, Harvard University researchers released a working paper that concluded it was harder for guests with African-American-sounding names to rent rooms through the site....
In May, Gregory Selden, who is African-American, filed a class-action discrimination suit against the company, saying that he had been denied a place to stay because of his race.I predict the number of apartments put up for Airnb rental falls over time.
-RW
I wonder when dating and hookup sites will follow suit. If you can't be picky about who sleeps in your house, why should you be allowed to be picky about who sleeps in your bed?
ReplyDeleteWhy do SJWs always feel the need to rationalize their calls for non-discrimination with some bizarre argument that is best for growth / the economy / profits etc?
ReplyDelete..."threatened to cloud the company’s fast growth."
Right, I'm sure that the biggest obstacle to AirBNB's future growth is that the platform allows hosts some degree of freedom in choosing their guests.
I smell a market opportunity afoot! As Airbnb becomes more draconian, users will migrate to platforms that allow more freedom to choose.
ReplyDeleteYUP -- airbnb will inevitably be swept away into the dustbin of failed free market options, opening the door for others to come in. Let's hope the migration is swift.
DeleteI reserve my basic human right to discriminate against whomever I wisch. Who the fark these sanctimonious retards think they are?
ReplyDeleteThis is political correctness raised to new heights of pontificating idiocy.
I got their ridiculous new policy sent through. I don't particularly consider myself racist, but I will NOT be told what to think (or swear some damned allegiance to) people who broker holiday homes! This is a hotel booking facility, not a Government recruitment agency. Just imagine if all companies required this level of "commitment" of political correctness from potential clients before allowing people the honour to use their services - car manufacturers for example. The M25 would be clear every day. I would love to sit in on an Airnb "OK Yah" committee meeting. Can you imagine the amount of company speak and spin? Wake up guys, your heads are firmly up your own rear ends.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO to all who are standing up to PC inanity! I hope people will stand up to this nonsense.
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ReplyDeleteIt's too bad that airbnb has so quickly given in to PC. I would never sign those terms.
What sets this type of business apart is that it represents the free market; there is a free exchange of services based on individual need and desire.
A person who rents out his or her room/home MUST be free to make assessments and discernments, just as does the person who agrees to rent the room/home.
This type of nonsense opens the door for frivolous lawsuits. It is the invention of attorneys.
Treating adults like imbeciles who cannot -- and should not be able to -- make their own assessments and free choices without the heavy hand of PC oversight is what this type of business apart.
airbnb has just left that space.
A person MUST be able to make a choice based on his or her own sensibilities. Why that individual makes that choice is personal --sometimes just an instinct, but no matter, it is free choice. It is what keeps us free and keeps us save as individuals.
The assumption that most people are either racist or gender biased or whatever.....is a false political assertion meant to keep us isolated from one another, under government control, and silent -- afraid to speak and act according to our own individual sensibilities.