Three young men, aged 19, 20 and 21, were shot dead in a Toronto condo rented through Airbnb on a Friday night. Within days, the company had changed who can book what in Canada.
Under a pilot announced at a Toronto news conference, Canadians under 25 can no longer rent entire homes in the area where they live. They can still book a private room in a host’s primary residence, and hotel rooms. Anyone under 25 with a record of positive reviews on the platform can be exempted, and the company has pointed to at least three recent stays with good evaluations.
Airbnb senior vice president Chris Lehane said the aim is to curb “unauthorised parties.” Violence involves a very small share of bookings, he told reporters, but the numbers climb for reservations made by under-25s in their own communities. “We have a 0.3% incident rate across our platform when it comes to issues involving property damage and a 0.6% incident rate when it involves personal security issues,” he said. “Those numbers get higher when you’re looking at… reservations made by people under 25… within the community they live in.”
The Toronto and Ottawa cases
The Toronto shooting happened on the 32nd floor of a downtown condo building near Bathurst Street and Fort York Boulevard. Police got several 911 calls at 10:21 p.m. Two more people were injured. The dead were identified as Jalen Colley, 21, Joshua Gibson-Skeir, 20, and Tyronne Noseworthy, 19. Toronto police later said the shooting was likely a murder-suicide.
Earlier in January, an 18-year-old was killed at an Airbnb-rented house in downtown Ottawa on January 8. And in California last year, a Halloween party at an Airbnb rental in Orinda ended in gunfire that left five people dead. Airbnb then announced a global ban on party houses.
What else Airbnb announced
The company is adding a 24-hour neighbourhood support hotline in Canada, so residents can raise concerns with rapid response agents. It is also partnering with Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, giving $300,000 over three years to raise awareness of gun violence.
Lehane admitted the system has limits. It relies on information users supply and on verification systems. “We’re not infallible,” he said, “there are ways that people are going to circumvent systems.” If the pilot cuts violence and property damage, it could spread to other countries.
Last month Airbnb said it would invest $150m in safety, including noise detectors, and tie staff bonuses to progress. It has also promised to check all seven million listings for accuracy, using algorithms, guest feedback and walk-throughs.
The timing matters for the business. Airbnb is answering city governments as it prepares to list on the stock market later this year, and research firm Pitchbook puts its private valuation at $30bn.
Toronto’s mayor said the pilot still falls short. He wants the company to hurry along new rules for short-term rentals in the city, which he said would make a “significant contribution to cutting down… dangerous activities.”
Airbnb spokesperson Lindsey Scully said after the shooting that the company has “zero tolerance for this type of behaviour” and that no other safety incidents had been reported at that listing.
Sources
- Airbnb blocks under-25s booking 'party houses' in Canada
- https://www.scienceaq.com/Article/Electronics/78253.html
- Airbnb to ban local guests under the age of 25 from booking entire homes | CBC News
