Airbnb plans to hide guests’ names to stop racial discrimination in Oregon, following a lawsuit by three Black women.
Until a booking is finalized, Airbnb hosts in Oregon will now only see the initials of visitors and not their full names.
In 2019, three Portland-area women settled a lawsuit where they alleged that hosts discriminated against and rejected customers based on race.
The Verge was the first to report on the move, which will be completely implemented by January 31.
This will be the latest effort by Airbnb to combat racial bias on the platform. It amended its policy in 2018, that profile images are no longer required to utilize the peer-to-peer accommodation platform. Hosts, on the other hand, can require images for their properties, but only after a booking has been confirmed.
It is still unclear as to why the service is only available in Oregon or whether it would be expanded to other states.
Airbnb posted a statement to their website which read: “This update is consistent with the voluntary settlement agreement we reached in 2019 with individuals in Oregon who raised concerns regarding the way guests’ names are displayed when they seek to book a listing. As part of our ongoing work, we will take any learnings from this process and use them to inform future efforts to fight bias.”
After a Harvard Business Review analysis indicated that guests with African-American-sounding names were 16 percent less likely to be accepted than guests with white-sounding names, the company pledged to enhance its zero-tolerance policy in 2016.
Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky apologized for “any pain or frustration” caused by the company’s “slow” response to bias and discrimination complaints from guests and hosts.
In recent years, a number of further changes have been made. The Airbnb Community Commitment requires both hosts and guests to agree that they will not discriminate against others. In 2020, it partnered with racial justice nonprofit Color Of Change to start Project Lighthouse, a research endeavor to discover discrimination on the platform.
Airbnb added “While we have made progress, we have much more to do and continue working with our hosts and guests, and with civil rights leaders to make our community more inclusive.”
