Airbnb has undermined users’ safety by scaling back its work to remove extremists from its platform, a former contractor alleged in a new whistleblower complaint.

Jess Hernandez worked full-time as an investigations analyst for Airbnb’s dangerous organizations team from May 2022 to November 2023, researching extremist networks as part of the company’s work to keep dangerous individuals off the platform. But she says she was terminated in November 2023, shortly after her team was directed by management to reinstate users who had been removed for their participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

“Airbnb spent much of 2023 scaling back and undermining the work of its team tasked with removing individuals affiliated with dangerous and extremist organizations from the platform,” Whistleblower Aid, the organization representing Hernandez, said in a statement. It added that by making the changes, “Airbnb privately abandoned its public commitment to its hosts’ and guests’ safety and security under this policy.”

Hernandez filed the whistleblower disclosure in May to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission. The complaint was first reported Wednesday by NBC News. CNN has not viewed the complaint and could not independently verify the details included in the NBC News report.

  • circuscritic
    -20•5 months ago

    A lot of human traffickers are Mexican, especially in the South West. Should probably ban Mexicans as well, just to be safe I guess.

    Oh, and most mass shooters are white men, should probably ban them.

    Gangbangers are another problem you mentioned, let’s just go ahead and ban every male 18-28.

    Prostitutes also a problem? Let’s ban all females 18-32.

    You’re working backwards from a terrible policy, banning people for having shitty political views, and then justifying it by saying, “Well, they probably committed sex crimes because they’re creepy”.

    Ban them for bad actions, not bad thoughts.