Airbnb has removed nearly 4,000 accounts worldwide for failing to commit to its non-discrimination policy, down from 5,100 last year, the short-term rental company said in an update on its anti-discrimination efforts.
The report, released Tuesday, is part of the company’s Project Lighthouse initiative, which aims to make the accommodation platform more accessible and inclusive. The project is a joint effort between Airbnb, the US online racial justice organisation Color of Change, and several civil rights groups, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice. The latest update featured a random sample of 750,000 booking requests in 2021.
Since June 2020, Airbnb has either removed or declined access to the platform to 1.2 million users for failure to comply with its non-discrimination policy. In addition, from 2016 to mid-2020, 1.3 million out of its 4 million registered users declined to agree to its inclusive approach.
The report also showed a “notable gap” in user experiences in 2021, depending on their apparent racial identity. According to the findings, travellers perceived to be white reported a booking success rate of 94.1%, while their fellow black guests had a booking success rate of 91.4%.
The vacation rental company started its efforts to combat racial disparity on the platform in 2015 after a Harvard study found out that Airbnb hosts were more likely to decline a reservation made by guests perceived to be African American.
In May 2016, an African American guest sued Airbnb for allegedly discriminatory housing practices. However, a federal judge blocked the lawsuit several months later. In 2019, the short-term stay provider settled a lawsuit in Oregon alleging that by disclosing guests’ full names and photographs, the company lets its hosts discriminate against people of color.
Guests who believe they are being discriminated against can now more easily change accommodation via the platform’s 24/7 customer support center, Airbnb added. The company also intends to make it easier for guests to report discrimination before or after the trip.
The report also revealed that guests with reviews have a higher booking success rate compared to guests without previous feedback from hosts. However, Black or Latino/Hispanic users tend to have fewer reviews than travelers perceived to be White or Asian. As a result, Airbnb has committed to implementing changes to make it easier for all users to get reviews.
To make its service more inclusive, Airbnb has recently changed the setting options to allow identity-verified guests to use the instant booking feature, even if they lack reviews. The company estimated that the change would make instant bookings available to more than 5 million users.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, congratulated Airbnb for its efforts in the field. However, he recommended that the platform communicate its fight against discrimination more often to the public.
“We are working to better understand how to increase trust between hosts and guests throughout the reservation process. That includes exploring changes to host and guest profiles to highlight information that can foster more connection,” Airbnb said.
