Without condemnation and prejudice

Airbnb forced users to accept the manifesto against discrimination

Since November 1, new rules aimed at combating discrimination began to operate on Airbnb - the largest site for searching for rented housing. The document , called the “obligations of the members of the Airbnb community”, prohibits users - both homeowners and potential tenants - discrimination by any signs, from race and religion to sexual orientation. Users who have refused to sign the manifesto are deprived of the right to use the site, but how to check what exactly the user has not been handed over for - for bad habits or for skin color - it is still unclear.

Airbnb is one of the most expensive non -public companies in the world. According to CNN Money for August 2016, the company was estimated at $ 30 billion . According to this indicator, Airbnb is in fourth place in the world among technological giants, following Uber, Chinese manufacturer of Xiaomi smartphones and Ryad-Shering company DIDI Chuxing. At the same time, the service has many problems: large cities around the world, from San Francisco to Berlin, introduce laws that impede the work of Airbnb. Most often, these laws are aimed at supporting local hotels. Scandals in the press associated with cases of discrimination were added to the leadership of the company headache.

Airbnb is regularly accused of discrimination. In 2014, scientists from Harvard University published a study , which spoke about the unequal position of the service users. For example, “fines” for a dysfunctional area for black users were higher than for whites. As a result of this and other similar circumstances, white housing owners can receive 12 percent more for the delivery of their housing than black. The authors of the study recommended Airbnb to abandon user photographs in profiles (or at least reduce the size of these photos) to reduce the influence of the appearance on the service of the service. In 2015, another study came to the conclusion that the owners less often rent housing to people with “African American” names and surnames. In addition, many users complained that the owners refuse to give them housing by learning about their sexual orientation or racial affiliation.

Airbnb considers scandals related to discrimination, the main threat to business. In July 2016, the founder of the company Brian Chemchiadmitted that the “three white guys” who created Airbnb simply could not foresee some problems. According to him, users should have the right to decide who to let them into their house, but this decision should not be based on prejudices, and there are no place for the racists on the service. Consciousness announced that Airbnb ordered another study to Stanford University, dedicated to discrimination, and intends to relate to the struggle for the equal rights of users with all seriousness.

Eric Holder, a former US Prosecutor General, who became the first US history in the history of the United States, was attracted to work on improving the image of Airbnb to improve this post. On November 1, the company introduced new rules, and also invited users to sign a discrimination manifesto. All Airbnb users undertake “treat other community members with respect, without condemnation and prejudice, regardless of their race, religion, national and ethnicity, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or age.” In addition, from November 1, site users will be able to undergo online training dedicated to “subconscious prejudices”. The possibility of showing photos of users is discussed only after the delivery of housing. At the same time, Airbnb introduces rules aimed at increasing racial and gender variety within the company.

The effectiveness of the Airbnb anti -discrimination manifesto is still unclear. The site management requires users to abandon any form of discrimination, threatening to otherwise deprive them of the right to use the site. At the same time, no one prohibits housing owners who signed the manifesto, refuse guests for “good reasons” - a bad rating or the presence of bad habits. Obviously, any of these reasons can be used to refuse housing to the African American or the representative of LGBT. The company reserves the right to block users convicted of systematic abuse of refusals for “respectful reasons”.