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It's great that the perpetrator was caught, and I don't think there's anything more that Airbnb could have done in this specific instance. But the article then
by dannyw 5y ago
It's great that the perpetrator was caught, and I don't think there's anything more that Airbnb could have done in this specific instance.
But the article then highlights more (separate) incidents where Airbnb potentially has more responsibility because it was the hosts themselves taking the actions, highlighting weaknesses in Airbnb's background check process:
"Lapayowker’s lawyer, Teresa Li, says the suit was able to proceed, despite the arbitration requirements in Airbnb’s terms of service, because the company hadn’t done a thorough background check of the host. Airbnb only flags prior convictions, and though the host had previously been charged with battery, he wasn’t convicted."
The article then goes on to explain that Airbnb had under-resourced their trust and safety teams. As part of the 2020 COVID layoffs, Airbnb also laid off their entire trust and safety team in Portland, Oregon.
I don't want to quote more from the lengthy article, as it's not my piece, but it seems like Airbnb could be doing more to improve the safety of their platform; such as mandating keyless entry (which would have prevented many incidents, including the aforementioned rape in the lead of the article).
- snypher 5y ago>Airbnb only flags prior convictions, and though the host had previously been charged with battery, he wasn’t convicted." Is the implication here people should be punished for pre-crime as well?
- noobermin 5y agoBeing charged with a crime but not convicted shouldn't be held against anyone, even if in this case they were to commit actual crime later. To do otherwise is an injustice.
- staticman2 5y agoThere's no reason it would have to be an injustice. The standards of proof for getting banned from Airbnb should be less than thrown in jail.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- closeparen 5y agoThis kind of thinking is not, in the end, going to make you safer. Shunning actual criminals out of polite society - let alone people who have merely been suspects - guarantees they will turn to crime for subsistence.
- staticman2 5y agoSince you brought up convictions-- I'm pretty confident choosing not to co-share an Airbnb with a convicted violent criminal is in fact likely to make me safer. There's a discussion to be had about how criminals can be reintegrated to society- but shared sleeping accommodations on vacation may not be the best scenario to have it.