Airbnb has been quietly using social media to root out and ban extremists

Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / Reuters. Article by Kris Holt. Engadget – January 20, 2021.

It’s said to have banned more than 100 accounts with ties to hate groups.

Airbnb has canceled all bookings in Washington DC this week in an attempt to prevent people from traveling there for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in the wake of the January 6th US Capitol riot. The company is also said it is attempting to ban anyone who took part in the insurrection, as well as those with links to known hate groups. It seems Airbnb has actually been working for years to root out people in the latter group, and it has used social media monitoring as part of those efforts.

The company has used dummy accounts on Facebook, Twitter and forums to identify users with ties to white nationalism and other possibly dangerous groups, according to The Information. Six or so employees in the trust and safety unit are said to have been tasked with tracking down users connected to those groups and kicking them off Airbnb’s platform. […]

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