Mr Holder has been drafted in to help fine-tune Airbnb’s anti-discrimination policy so as to help combat growing concern that the home-sharing platform is inaccessible to black and minority ethnic (BME) and transgender vacationers, many of whom have reported being consistently rejected by prospective hosts. In an article published last week, Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said that bigotry was ‘the greatest challenge’ currently faced by the company. Mr Holder, who served as Attorney General in the Obama Administration between 2009 and 2015, will work alongside civil rights lawyer John Relman to overhaul the company’s anti-discrimination policy and close loopholes that allow users to discriminate in line with their own prejudices.
Harvard discrimination study
Pressure has been mounting on Airbnb since December when researchers from Harvard University released a study which found that users with African-American sounding names were more likely to be rejected by prospective hosts than others. The study concluded that fictional user profiles with names like ‘Lakisha’ or ‘Rasheed’ were 16 per cent less likely to be accepted by Airbnb hosts than identical profiles with names like ‘Brent’ or ‘Kristen’. Transgender users have also reported being rejected by Airbnb hosts even when properties are available.
Building community
Mr Holder is joining Airbnb’s anti-discrimination fight midway through a review being overseen by former American Civil Liberties Union official Laura Murphy. A statement from Mr Holder read: ‘Airbnb is committed to building a community where everyone can belong. I’m eager to help them craft policies that will be the model of companies who share Airbnb’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.’
Sources: New York Times; The Guardian
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