(PresidentialHill.com)- Airbnb confirmed in early February that it has banned conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, blocking her from booking reservations on its platform.
Over the last year, Malkin aligned herself with anti-Semite Nick Fuentes’ America First movement. And after she participated in the 2021 American Renaissance Conference in Tennessee, Airbnb notified Malkin that it was canceling her account for violating the company’s “community policies” that bar people who are members of or associated with “known hate groups.”
Airbnb accused Malkin of promoting and participating in “a known white nationalist and white supremacist conference,” and used that as a justification for removing her account.
Malkin delivered a keynote address titled, “Race, Immigration, and Con. Inc: How I Came to See the Light” at the American Renaissance Conference.
American Renaissance is a race-essentialist outlet that claims race is “an important aspect of individual and group identity.” It believes “whites, like all racial groups, have legitimate interests that must be defended.”
In short, it is no different from any other race-essentialist organization, like Black Lives Matter.
But because this racial identarian group is white, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League have classified American Renaissance as a “hate group” while giving racial identarian groups like Black Lives Matter a pass.
In a recent op-ed, Malkin suggested the “hate group” classifications from the SPLC and ADL are the reason Airbnb banned her from its service. However, it isn’t clear if Airbnb coordinates with the SPLC and ADL in making decisions on whom to ban.
Malkin accused Airbnb of launching an “ideological witch hunt” against those deemed extremists. She said she has been a target of both the SPLC and ADL since 2002 when her book “Invasion” was published.
In addition to banning Michelle Malkin, Airbnb also shut down her husband’s account because she has booked reservations both under her account and his.
Malkin, who noted that she is “a woman of color,” defended her appearance at the American Renaissance Conference, saying she “spoke peacefully and lawfully” to a “peaceful and lawful” conference “and was honored to receive a warm welcome.”
She vowed to continue fighting against “speech-stifling bigots” who are “retaliating against me and my family for my journalism and activism.”
