Closed Facebook groups of Airbnb hosts to gossip about guests brought to light

It's come to light via sceenshots by travel site Skift, that rental hosts who lives on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo have been using closed Facebook groups to talk about their guests, sharing guests' personal information and photos

The gossip reportedly took place in at least two Facebook groups, titled "Airbnb Guests Blacklist" and "Airbnb Host Community — Vent, Recommend, and Discuss."

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that Facebook has taken down the "Airbnb Guests Blacklist" group for violating its terms of use. Facebook is still investigating the other closed group in question, the spokesperson said.

Both groups were intended as places for short-term rental hosts to exchange information about guests they didn't like in order to warn other hosts, the screenshots show. In many cases, hosts would post names, photos, and other identifying information about guests — an apparent breach of Airbnb's community standards.

In one post to the group "Airbnb Host Community — Vent, Recommend, and Discuss," which has 16,715 members, an Airbnb host reportedly posted a photo and profile of a potential guest from the Philippines, along with a message from the potential guest that included information about his sexual orientation: "Hi. I would like to know if it's fine if I will bring a guy in one of my stays? Just in case I was able to hook up with any guys there? Thanks."

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