AirBnB Will Not House White Supremacists Now — Or Ever Again

On Monday, CEO Brian Chesky reiterated his defense of Airbnb's ban on white supremacists ahead of the Charlottesville rally. The violence, racism and hatred demonstrated by neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and white supremacists should have no place in this world,” Chesky said in a statement, according The Verge.

Last week, prior to Saturday's so-called "Unite the Right" rally, Airbnb decided to shut down accounts affiliated with white supremacists. The company defended its decision by noting that its anti-discrimination policy, which it calls the "Airbnb Community Commitment," prevents both hosts and users (who are required to agree to the commitment before using the platform) from being used by individuals or groups who espouse ideologies that endanger protected minorities.

"When through our background check processes or from input of our community we identify and determine that there are those who would be pursuing behavior on the platform that would be antithetical to the Airbnb Community Commitment, we seek to take appropriate action including, as in this case, removing them from the platform,” the Airbnb said in a statement last week.

Airbnb's Chesky was not the only member of the tech industry to condemn the violence in Charlottesville, VA, which led to death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer. "We’ve seen the terror of white supremacy & racist violence before. It's a moral issue - an affront to America. We must all stand against it," tweeted Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday. On Monday, Google and GoDaddy banned the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer after it made crude remarks about Heyer.

Furthermore, three CEOs have left President Donald Trump's manufacturing advisory council after the president failed to condemn white supremacy for two days. “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” Merck CEO Ken Frazier said. On Tuesday another member — President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing Scott Paul — left Trump's advisory council.

President Trump, who sent a barbed tweet following Frazier's announcement, at first stated that the violence in Charlottesville was "on many sides," angering many since the alleged perpetrator of the killing of Heyer is a supposed white supremacist. On Monday, two days after the Saturday incident, Trump finally made a statement about white supremacist ideologies. “Racism is evil,” Trump said. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the K.K.K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”

In his statement, Airbnb's Chesky said he plans to stand firm against white supremacy and other hateful ideologies: "Airbnb will continue to stand for acceptance, and we will continue to do all we can to enforce our community commitment.”