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ABB has every right to choose who their hosts will be.
They're TIRED of dealing with racist incidents perpetrated by their hosts. The hospitality business is far too competitive to have hosts screwing up their business model. Other boarding sites are popping up, and ABB doesn't wanna lose customers.
I know a lot of minorities that won't use ABB because they don't wanna deal with some last minute glitch caused by some racist ass host.
Re-read for content. They deactivated guests, not hosts. Their stated position is to discriminate against discriminating hosts, clearly a good idea. Hosts have to sign sort of a pledge.
Much as some would seem to wish it so, political affiliation/ideology is not a protected class.
I just posted something a bit longer on the subject. my point isn't to pick my personal like or dislike, rather to point out you don't get to pick which one you want to discriminate against.
and politicial affiliation isn't a protected class because its a first amendment right.
I am not on any social media and I scrub any information I find about myself on sites like Spokeo, Intellius, Been Verified and similar sites annually. I'm not on Pinterest because no one needs know what I buy or want to buy. I get enough spam, thank you.
For online forums I use a separate email address and have a different username for each forum.
Another interesting example of a company denying service to people involved in an event the business owners disapprove of. I'm not sure how AirBNB is structured as a company, how many owners, etc.
I wonder if the affected customers will sue.
AirBNB is a privately-held company. What basis would the affected customers have to sue? AirBNB is free to control its platform in this way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dark Enlightenment
Wow. A large corporation will deny lodging under its control, worldwide, to certain people simply because they planned to attend an unapproved political rally? Is there any precedent for that? Is it even legal?
It is denying access to their platform to certain people with odious political beliefs. That is permissible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vector1
I can understand them getting rid of hosts who discriminate against potential guests, but I do not understand them eliminating potential guests from being able to find lodging.
For all intents and purpose, they are discriminating against a group of people because of their political/ideological beliefs.
If I were a host and lost business because ABB was removing potential guests for that reason, I'd be upset with them.
Obviously (I hope) hosts & AirBNB need to comply with discrimination laws. Political & ideological beliefs are not protected from discrimination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9
This is a racist incident perpetrated by ABB itself. You can't have special requirements for members of one race that do not apply to other races. In this case, ABB is imposing a requirement on whites that they not participate in the political process in a way that ABB allows all other races to do. That's illegal and racist.
What is racist about it? This is not a requirement on whites. This is focused on white supremacists.
Quote:
Originally Posted by residinghere2007
Read the article.
Those of you who have not used AirBnB may not know that they have a terms of service agreement you have to sign to use their platform. Also that the company itself does not provide lodging to customers - it provides a technolgical platform to allow the "hosts" to offer their residences and the guests to contract with the hosts.
Due to the above, they are in a unique position and are not totally like the hotel industry. Deleting people's accounts and giving them back their money is not the same thing as disallowing people to rent a property. We'll see though if any law suit goes anywhere. I can see how the racist folks can view this move by AirBnb as being discriminatory against people of the "white race."
Contrary to what many of those racists believe, "white" is a race and is a "protected class" just like all other races in America. However AirBnB can take the angle of - they didn't deny them any lodging, they just deleted/deactivated their accounts.
I can also understand why AirBnB did it. They have lost business in the past couple years due to complaints about discrimination faced by guests based on their pictures/profiles. Recently there was an issue, which was mentioned in the article about an Asian guest being denied a place because they were Asians. Blacks have been denied places with the service as well over the years.
I'm black but use the service often and have never had any issues at all. I like the model and that it is an easy way to get high quality rentals.
Most importantly, AirBNB is not targeting people on the basis of their race. They are targeting them on the basis of their odious political views/associations. That is allowed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd
I just posted something a bit longer on the subject. my point isn't to pick my personal like or dislike, rather to point out you don't get to pick which one you want to discriminate against.
and politicial affiliation isn't a protected class because its a first amendment right.
AirBNB also discriminates against people who don't have an email address. And that's their prerogative. The First Amendment protects you against the government. It does not protect you against corporations. Anti-discrimination laws exist through the Civil Rights Act and through a variety of State laws modeled on it. They protect certain classes from discrimination, including Race, Sex, Ethnicity, Religion, National Origin, and (in some States) Sexual Orientation.
It's their business, so they should be allowed to deny service to anyone for any reason.
Now, if a contract was violated, they should have to resolve that.
So should the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.
"and the photographer and the florist and . . . "
Another interesting example of a company denying service to people involved in an event the business owners disapprove of. I'm not sure how AirBNB is structured as a company, how many owners, etc.
I wonder if the affected customers will sue.
It's a private business. They have that right. What's the controversy here?
Wow. A large corporation will deny lodging under its control, worldwide, to certain people simply because they planned to attend an unapproved political rally? Is there any precedent for that? Is it even legal?
Totally legal. Racist, white supremacist scumbag is not a protected class. IMO, if you attend a white supremacist rally you should be treated as persona non grata by the rest of society. Go find one of your white power Nazi buddies to crash with if you need a place to stay.
No way in hell would I want to stay in a white supremacist's house, nor am I letting them stay in mine.
Same here.
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