Airbnb in racism row
A Melbourne host has been suspended for allegedly discriminating against a user because she was black.
Hello and welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest tech news.
11.05am: Airbnb in racism row
An Airbnb host in Melbourne has been suspended for allegedly discriminating against a user on racist grounds.
Sadia Mohamed, 19, was looking to rent a holiday spot in the city with her sister and had been confirmed for a two-bedroom waterfront apartment.
But she was shocked when she received a private message from the host saying the arrangement wasn’t going to work out because Ms Mohamed was black.
“Thank you so much! If you are black, please forgive us for not receiving you!” the host wrote.
Ms Mohamed told NCA NewsWire it was an instance of racism more blatant than anything she’d experienced.
“I’ve never experienced anything so in my face. I’ve dealt with racism in the past but not something like this and with someone that’s so open,” she said.
The host defended herself, claiming it wasn’t discriminatory and blamed the building management for the decision: “I‘m sorry, because the whole building is like this, and the building management gave us an ultimatum! Thanks.”
Airbnb told NCA NewsWire it had taken swift action after being alerted to a Twitter post about the incident. The company opened an investigation and froze the host’s account, saying it would eventually be removed completely.
It is understood Airbnb confirmed the authenticity of the conversation in the screenshots before pulling the plug on the host.
“Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where everyone can belong anywhere. This is something we care deeply about and are absolutely committed to,” the company wrote in a statement.
“Discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our community. We have removed a host and the listing in question and will continue to investigate the matter.
“We enforce a strict non-discrimination policy and under our Open Doors initiative, if a guest feels they have been discriminated against, we will provide personalised support to ensure they find a place to stay.”
Asked what she thought of the company’s response, Ms Mohamed said: “Honestly, I’m happy with what Airbnb did but I wish they did more.”
NCA Newswire
David Swan 10.40am: Successful lift-off for Kleos
ASX-listed data-as-a-service outfit Kleos has successfully launched its first four nanosatellites, after a successful take-off from India‘s Satish Dhawan Space Centre over the weekend.
The company, which aims to uncover hidden illegal maritime activity such as illegal fishing and trafficking, says it has lined up over 100 customers in a pipeline that includes the USA, UK, Latin America, the Middle East, South Pacific and Australia.
“We‘ll use our satellites to collect data about what’s going on around the world, and the more satellites we have, the more data we can collect and the more revenues we can generate,” chief executive Andy Bowyer told The Australian.
“This launch has been a long time coming. We’ve had some delays and bumps along the road, and COVID certainly hasn’t helped over the last eight months or so, but it’s great to see us finally launch.”
The Luxembourg-based Kleos is also plotting a second launch for the middle of 2021, in what will be its second cluster, with greater capacity.
“We aim to have multiple satellites in space, and what you would call a constellation of satellites,” Mr Bowyer said. ” There there are parts of the world which are in huge demand for us with regard, providing data. What we want to be able to do is provide operational data so this would be what is happening every minute of every day in a particular area, so that our customers can react to that, they can send out boats, they can arrest people and find out what‘s going on.
“We can get involved in real time geo-fencing, or intelligence operations, and deliver valuable data to or customers.”
Kleos chief technology officer Miles Ashcroft the successful launch was the fruition of a lot of work.
“They have made sure this has happened through the most unusual of times, and I am grateful for their dedication which has been exemplary.
“We are in a good position for developing our systems to exploit data, we are making fantastic progress on the next mission (KSF) already, these really are exciting times for Kleos.”
The company is currently in a trading halt pending an announcement on Wednesday. It last traded at 86 cents per share, giving it a market capitalisation of about $112.5m.
Chris Griffith 9.00am: Trump faces new social media barriers
US president Donald Trump will face new restrictions on posts on Twitter and Facebook when Joe Biden takes office in January.
The president has already faced qualifications being placed on some posts and other posts being removed where the social media companies have judged them as manifestly untrue and contrary to the public interest. You can still read the tweets but you have to click on the warning messages to see them.
The new restrictions would apply once Mr Trump leaves office, which seems inevitable unless he can back his claims of voting fraud with evidence.
In the case of Twitter, he no longer would qualify as a world leader or candidate for office. Twitter gives leaders latitude to post what otherwise would be regarded sometimes as unacceptable content in the interest of international dialogue.
For example, tweets by the Iranian leadership including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denying and questioning The Holocaust are allowed on its platform under this “world leader” provision.
In a policy published last year, Twitter bans world leaders from promoting terrorism, making threats of violence, posting private information such as people’s addresses, posting intimate photos, promoting self-harm or behaviours associated with child sexual exploitation. The policy is here.
“In other cases involving a world leader, we will err on the side of leaving the content up if there is a clear public interest in doing so,” says the policy.
Reuters has reported that Mr Trump will not have this status once he leaves office. “This policy framework applies to current world leaders and candidates for office, and not private citizens when they no longer hold these positions,” Reuters quotes a Twitter spokesman.
Facebook too offers more leniency to politicians while in office, according to Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs and Communications in a speech last year.
“We don’t believe, however, that it’s an appropriate role for us to referee political debates and prevent a politician’s speech from reaching its audience and being subject to public debate and scrutiny,” he said. “That’s why Facebook exempts politicians from our third-party fact-checking program.
“However, when a politician shares previously debunked content including links, videos and photos, we plan to demote that content, display related information from fact-checkers, and reject its inclusion in advertisements.”
He said Facebook also evaluates the public interest value of a post against the risk of harm. Facebook has removed some Trump tweets including his claim that COVID-19 is less deadly than the flu.
Why that Valentine’s Day gift might head back to the shop
Australians returned more than $11m in gifts, or 88,600 items, in the fortnight after Christmas and it could be down to people cashing in what they can to make ends meet, a data collector says.
CEO still MIA as Richard White is back with a vengeance
WiseTech says it is progressing with its search for a new chief, as Richard White wastes no time settling into his new $1m a year consulting role at the company he took some brief leave from.