Accommodation site Airbnb has banned 'party houses' after a shooting at a Halloween shindig last week that was at a house rented on the platform.
"Starting today, we are banning 'party houses' and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorised parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda," CEO Brian Chesky said on Twitter.
Five people were shot dead at a party in Orinda, near Oakland in California, on Thursday night. Several others were injured.
The place had been booked for a party on Airbnb, a site which lets people rent out their homes to others on a short-term basis.
"We must do better, and we will. This is unacceptable," said Chesky.
He said Airbnb will create a "dedicated party house rapid response team", expand "manual screening of high-risk reservations flagged by our risk detection technology", and take "immediate action against users who violate these enhanced guest policies, including removal".
- Five private islands you can rent via AirBnb right now
- New premium Airbnb Plus service launches in New Zealand
The owner of the home where the shooting happened told local media he rented it out to a woman who told him there would only be a dozen people there for a family reunion.
But when police arrived, there were more than 100. They said the party had even been advertised on social media.
"The partygoers apparently came from throughout the Bay Area for the Halloween event," they said in a statement.
The suspect is yet to be apprehended.
Newshub.
