Airbnb steps up anti-racial discrimination measures
Airbnb is escalating anti-discrimination measures in a new initiative.
The policy is being speeded up as ‘recent events in the US have compelled us to move more quickly,’ the company said in a blog post.
It partnered with racial justice group Color of Change to help root out racial bias on its platform.
Its ‘Project Lighthouse’ initiative will collate booking, reviews, and cancellation data to ‘uncover, measure, and overcome’ racial discrimination.
The initiative has been brought forward by several months due to nationwide protests sparked by the death of Georg Floyd.
"An important step in our continued fight against discrimination is understanding when and how it happens," Airbnb said.
It launches at the end of June collecting data on US bookings and feedback.
The company says it has kicked 1.3 million people off its platform since 2016 for ‘not treating others without judgement or bias.’
There have been numerous high profile #AirbnbWhileBlack incidents and Airbnb first released data on racial discrimination and measures is was taking to stop it in 2016.
"Any insights (of Project Lighthouse) will be used to help develop new features and policies that create a more equitable experience on our platform," the company said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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