In This Article:
False claims about vaccines against COVID-19 have proliferated on social media, and lodging rental site Airbnb (ABNB) is the latest platform to encounter vaccine misinformation — coming from hosts.
In a May 23 tweet, tech journalist Charlie Warzel shared a listing in Montana that would only allow unvaccinated guests, making a false claim about the mRNA protein in Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Buzzfeed first reported that the cabin is no longer listed.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, in response to how the platform plans to mitigate continued misinformation, as the community continues to grow, said "that's kind of the secret sauce of what we do every day."
"The way we manage this to make it a secure platform where people feel like they can trust the platform both hosts and guests, that's what we do. For example, we are willing to take responsibility and take action if we have to," he told Yahoo Finance in an interview on Tuesday.
Referencing the January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., Chesky said Airbnb is willing to make swift decisions in the face of safety or health concerns.
"We banned all bookings in D.C., we blocked all reservations in DC for the week of the Inauguration. But what we did is we still — when we canceled every reservation, we still paid out the host. And so I think we've shown time and again that we're still going to try to make it work for both sides. That's why people come to Airbnb — because there's a trusted third party that can handle the money, make sure that we can resolve any disputes if there ever is a problem. And problems are actually quite rare on Airbnb."
Airbnb has dedicated a page regarding "content policy and the coronavirus," detailing rules that have been implemented "in an effort to avoid misinformation on health and travel advisories related to COVID-19." The efforts come as vaccine supply has begun to exceed demand, even though only 39.5% of people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The majority of the anti-vaccine misinformation stems from 12 prominent anti-vaccine activists, according to a joint report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Vax Watch.