Airbnb undermined team that removed extremist users, whistleblower claims | CNN Business
Airbnb undermined team that removed extremist users, whistleblower claims | CNN Business
Airbnb has undermined users’ safety by scaling back its work to remove extremists from its platform, a former contractor alleged in a new whistleblower complaint.
Jess Hernandez worked full-time as an investigations analyst for Airbnb’s dangerous organizations team from May 2022 to November 2023, researching extremist networks as part of the company’s work to keep dangerous individuals off the platform. But she says she was terminated in November 2023, shortly after her team was directed by management to reinstate users who had been removed for their participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“Airbnb spent much of 2023 scaling back and undermining the work of its team tasked with removing individuals affiliated with dangerous and extremist organizations from the platform,” Whistleblower Aid, the organization representing Hernandez, said in a statement. It added that by making the changes, “Airbnb privately abandoned its public commitment to its hosts’ and guests’ safety and security under this policy.”
Hernandez filed the whistleblower disclosure in May to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission. The complaint was first reported Wednesday by NBC News. CNN has not viewed the complaint and could not independently verify the details included in the NBC News report.
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This sounds Orwellian.
I understand the justification for these teams on social media because of their role, and their desire to be advertising friendly.
But a public company like AirBnB should not be legally allowed to ban people solely based on their political views, even if they suck.
Ban them for their actions, but not for Minority Report Pre-Crime.
As someone who cleans up Air BnBs in Miami I can tell you that sex trafficking groups use Air BnB regularly and that team helped us keep them off of the platform.
I cleaned up a rental that had experienced a murder committed by a local gang.
This isn’t just some extremists they’re trying to keep off the platform. It’s crazy psychopathic murderers too. And it’s way more common than you think because I cleaned up two of those within 6 months.
I wasn't aware that sex trafficking and gangbanging were just considered acts of political extremism.
Because that's what I'm concerned about - banning people for the thought crimes of having shitty politics, which is something this team clearly engaged in.
I can't speak to any other role they played in preventing actual criminal activity, like you described, but those would be perfect examples of the types of people that should be banned.
But if your argument is that actual crime and "pre-crime" or "thought crimes" are the same, well, that's pretty Orwellian and something I strongly disagree with.
participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
These are actions, not thoughts.
I would hope you now take back what you have been saying because you have been arguing a staw man.
I questioned whether I’d misread that bit of the article, so thanks for clarifying with a quote. Same as people who lost their jobs for joining in at J6. Your politics fueled violence. I have no sympathy. I say that as someone who will be on a list if fascists truly come to power in the USA. Mine will be for thought crimes. These are for real crimes. I’m sure there are minor nuances where I’d be willing to concede something went too far as almost all enforcement runs into grey areas from time to time, but this is far from persecuting people for the way they voted.
Well, you should know that a lot of these extremist weirdos are also sex traffickers. Because I deal with it monthly.
A lot of human traffickers are Mexican, especially in the South West. Should probably ban Mexicans as well, just to be safe I guess.
Oh, and most mass shooters are white men, should probably ban them.
Gangbangers are another problem you mentioned, let's just go ahead and ban every male 18-28.
Prostitutes also a problem? Let's ban all females 18-32.
You're working backwards from a terrible policy, banning people for having shitty political views, and then justifying it by saying, "Well, they probably committed sex crimes because they're creepy".
Ban them for bad actions, not bad thoughts.
Where does it say any of this was happening?
It doesn't.
Ban them for their actions, but not for Minority Report Pre-Crime.
It's fascinating that you consider participation in the events of Jan 6 a "political view" rather than an action.
Fascism is not a "political view". Fascism is the extinction of politics. It sits outside the bounds of political discourse.
A public company should totally be allowed to ban someone for hate.
Why wait until they commit a heinous act to try to stop the spread of them?