Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants users to know exactly where his company stands on the ongoings in Charlottesville last weekend.
In the days before the “Unite the Right” rally, the home-sharing giant cancelled the accounts of attendees who had rented lodging in the area because white nationalist philosophy is a violation of its terms of service.
Rally organizer Jason Kessler told The Washington Post that Airbnb’s decision to remove users for attending the event “outrageous” and “grounds for a lawsuit.”
“It’s the racial targeting of white people for their ethnic advocacy,” he added.
That didn’t change Chesky’s viewpoint. On Monday, the CEO issued a statement reaffirming Airbnb’s stance on white nationalism. “The violence, racism and hatred demonstrated by Neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and white supremacists should have no place in this world,” he said.
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Read Chesky’s full statement below.
The violence, racism and hatred demonstrated by Neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and white supremacists should have no place in this world.
Earlier this month, we learned that some people were organizing to stay in and hold a series of after parties at several Airbnb listings while in town to attend this terrible event.
As we explained to members of the media who contacted us last week, we require those who are members of the Airbnb community to accept people regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age. When we see people pursuing behavior on the platform that would be antithetical to the Airbnb Community Commitment, we take appropriate action. In this case, last week, we removed these people from Airbnb.
Airbnb will continue to stand for acceptance and we will continue to do all we can to enforce our community commitment.