SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Airbnb is canceling all reservations in the Washington, D.C., area for inauguration week. President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration is on Jan. 20.
The company said canceled reservations will be fully refunded, and hosts will be reimbursed by Airbnb. “We are aware of reports emerging yesterday afternoon regarding armed militias and known hate groups that are attempting to travel and disrupt the Inauguration,” Airbnb said on Wednesday.
Blocking out reservations during the inauguration would prevent hate group members coming to D.C. to commit violence from staying with Airbnb. The company has already banned accounts belonging to people who were identified as being associated with hate groups or involved in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Originally, the company had shared a prevention plan for keeping people with bad intentions from booking during the inauguration. The plan included:
- Preventing hate group members in the U.S. from hiding behind fake identities by providing government ID
- Re-running background checks on existing users
- Threatening legal action against booking guests who are part of hate groups
- Reminding Airbnb users to report suspected violations to trained crisis staff by calling the Urgent Safety Line.
- 24/7 neighbor support line for issues with reservations.
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