Airbnb doesn’t want Proud Boys or members of the mob that stormed the Capitol to use its platform.
“Our community policies ban domestic terrorist and violent hate group members,” Airbnb spokesperson Ben Breit tells Washingtonian. “In the days leading up to the terrible incident in Washington, we learned of reservations made by certain members of these groups and cancelled those reservations and removed them from our community, and we will continue to take appropriate action.”
This isn’t a new stance for the company: It threatened to expel any users who used the service for the 2018 “Unite the Right 2” rally in DC and as recently as November canceled a reservation made by Proud Boys member Ronald Gaudier. The company has banned 1.4 million users from its platform for refusing to accept the company’s standards, which explicitly ban “Members of dangerous organizations, including terrorist, organized criminal, and violent racist groups,” Breit says.
So what should you do if you think you saw someone who engaged in yesterday’s terrorist attack checking out of a DC-area Airbnb Thursday morning? Hosts should call the company’s Urgent Safety Line, Breit says. If you’re a neighbor, get in touch via this portal, or its hotline at (855) 635-7754.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
