Airbnb taps former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to curb discrimination

Facing backlash for discrimination on its platform, Airbnb Inc. has enlisted former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to curb bias on the vacation rental service.

In a Tuesday blog post announcing the move, company CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and police officers as questions surrounding race, policing and prejudice have become topics of national discussion.

“We aren’t so naive to think that one company can solve these problems, but we understand that we have an obligation to be honest about our own shortcomings, and do more to get our house in order,” he wrote. “That’s why we’ve been talking more openly about discrimination and bias on our platform, and are currently engaged in a process to prevent it.”

Holder will help Airbnb “craft a world-class anti-discrimination policy,” Chesky wrote.

The San Francisco company has been under fire since a Harvard Business School study revealed that guests with traditionally black names are more likely to be denied a booking than others.

Racism on the site has inspired black start-up founders to propose rival services Innclusive.com and Noirbnb.com as discrimination-free alternatives. Both reportedly intend to launch near the end of summer.

Airbnb used its annual OpenAir conference in June to say it would review ways to improve diversity and reduce discrimination on its service — a major shift for an event that previously focused on business issues such as data or expansion plans.

Chesky said Laura Murphy, the former head of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington, D.C., legislative office, will guide the review process.

Airbnb has said it plans to announce its findings by September.

Holder is the latest former government official to cross into the tech industry, joining Uber’s David Plouffe and Amazon’s Jay Carney. Plouffe served as a campaign manager for President Obama. Carney, Obama’s former press secretary, was hired by Amazon as senior vice president for worldwide corporate affairs.

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UPDATES:

1:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information about proposed rival start-ups Innclusive.com and Noirbnb.com.

This article was originally published at 10:05 a.m.