Airbnb Reverses Ban on Parents of Conservative YouTuber – Says It Was a Mistake

Airbnb is reversing course after it banned the parents of a right-wing YouTube star from its service.

On Tuesday, right-wing commentator Lauren Southern tweeted, “My parents just got banned from AirBnB for being related to me.”

“They have never booked anything for me. They do not represent me in any way. They aren’t publicly political in any way,” she continued. ”How is this sane in any way?”

She shared a screenshot of an email sent to her parents which stated, “We’ve removed you from the Airbnb platform because your account is closely associated with a person who isn’t allowed to use Airbnb. This means you’ll no longer be able to book reservations on Airbnb.”

https://twitter.com/Lauren_Southern/status/1623103441844436992

It added Southern’s parents would be refunded for reservations. Additionally, it provided a way for them to appeal the decision.

Southern has been accused of promoting “many causes dear to the alt-right” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. She has also been banned from Airbnb.

But on Wednesday, Gregg Re, a producer at Fox News, tweeted, “ tells me it was a ‘mistake’ to ban Lauren’s family members. Decision ‘reversed.’ They say Lauren is still banned, although the spokesman did not explain why. He says that’s forthcoming in an email.”

https://twitter.com/gregg_re/status/1623361428420796416

Southern later shared a follow-up email her parents received stating the company had reviewed an appeal of the initial decision. However, she claimed they did not file an appeal and suggested the email was an attempt to “make this look like a mistake due to bad PR.”

“It was not. They just miscalculated how far they could go,” she added.