A newly written nondiscrimination policy posted on the company’s website says effective September 8 AIRBNB hosts can not decline a guest based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.
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Through a new policy called “Open Doors”, Airbnb said it will ensure that a guest who has been discriminated against finds a place to stay. The new rules, crafted by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and civil rights attorney John Relman, will ask property owners to affirm that they won’t discriminate based on “race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age”. But some users clearly haven’t felt welcome on Airbnb.
On Thursday morning, the San Francisco company revealed a series of changes meant to prevent Airbnb landlords from denying rooms to guests based on race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other discriminatory factor.
In recent years, studies also found racial disparities in how hosts profit from Airbnb, including two separate studies from Harvard researchers that found black and Asian hosts earn significantly less than their white counterparts.
The home-sharing company today (Sept. 8) released a 32-page report describing its efforts to curb discrimination on its platform.
Another policy called Open Doors will begin October 1. Chesky said the new “Airbnb Community Commitment” wouldn’t just be checking a box on a long legal document, but would involve agreeing to treat others without bias.
The same month, the company hired Laura Murphy, former director of the ACLU’s Washington legislative office, as an advisor to review how Airbnb handles discrimination. The hosts who complete the training will be publicly acknowledged in the platform.
After much criticism that its popular home-sharing service has a discrimination problem, Airbnb says it’s making some changes.
In a July blog post, Airbnb founder Brian Chesky wrote that the team conducting the review “highlighted the importance of fighting both explicit racism and the implicit biases that can lead to discrimination”.
Homeowners who rent out rooms via the popular Airbnb app will soon be required to abide by a non-discrimination policy that covers a range of protected classes, including “gender identity”, Reuters reported Thursday.
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The company has also introduced hiring rules created to increase diversity among senior-level positions and is retraining customer service representatives on diversity policies. Airbnb said it would also accelerate the use of instant bookings, which lets renters book places immediately without host approval.
