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Canadian conservative activist and YouTuber Lauren Southern slammed Airbnb on Twitter after the company reportedly banned her parents from vacationing at a rental property. As per the screenshots, the organization did not allow the pair to stay at one of their locations as they were “closely associated” to Lauren. After amassing soaring backlash online, Airbnb claimed that it was an error.
On February 8, 2023, Lauren Southern took to her Twitter account and told her 500,000 followers that her parents were banned from Airbnb as they were related to her. Speaking about her parents, she added in a tweet:
“They have never booked anything for me. They do not represent me in any way. They aren’t publicly political in any way.”
She also attached a screenshot that seemed to show an email from Airbnb that read:
“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.”
At the time of writing this article, the tweet had amassed nearly 10 million views.
In a separate tweet, the political activist explained that her parents were planning a “romantic getaway” and that they do not participate in politics. She added in her tweet:
“All I’ve learned is that if governments and corporations can’t shut you up by harming you, they’ll now go for your families.”
Who is Lauren Southern?
The 27-year-old Surrey, Canada native attended the University of Fraser Valley where she graduated with a degree in political science. Southern amassed massive traction after posting a video on the Rebel Media channel in April 2015, where she explained why she was not a feminist.
Since then, she has worked alongside the news outlet The Rebel, which is mostly affiliated with the Libertarian Part of Canada. Southern has also written for outlets including The Spectator, IB Times, Sky News, Human Events, and more. She has also directed a series of films including Farmlands, Borderless, and Crossfire.
Lauren Southern also went viral online after criticizing Facebook for removing posts that showed support for former President Donald Trump. Her July 2017 video, where she argued that Caucasian people were being outbred and replaced in their own countries, also amassed massive traction online.
Due to her radical political stances, she has been banned from entering the United Kingdom. She was also detained in Italy after she blocked a coast guard ship from going on a search and rescue mission for North African migrants.
Lauren Southern briefly stepped away from political activism in 2019. However, she returned the following year. She has rejected the “far-right” label in the past and claims not to be a racist.
Airbnb claims that the ban on Lauren Southern’s parents was a “mistake”
In a statement to The Daily Wire, the organization claimed that the ban was a “mistake.” They said in a statement:
“We have reinstated their accounts and apologized to them for this mistake.”
Responding to the same, Southern took to Twitter, claiming that they claimed it was a “mistake” due to the “bad PR” they had amassed. She added:
“They just miscalculated how far they could go.”
Netizens enraged over Airbnb ban
Internet users were displeased to hear about the ban, considering the parents did not participate in voicing their political opinions publicly. Netizens announced that they would no longer be making bookings with the company.
According to several older reports, Airbnb has a history of making business decisions based in accordance to liberal opinions. It has been reported that the company refused to rent out properties that were associated with slavery in the past.
