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‘Legally Pursued’: Airbnb Threatens Users With New Ban On Partying

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Airbnb has banned parties at all their listings due to coronavirus, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The global party ban will remain in place “indefinitely until further notice,” Airbnb said in the statement. They are also banning groups of more than 16 people from booking a space together.

“Some have chosen to take bar and club behavior to homes, sometimes rented through our platform,” the company wrote. “We think such conduct is incredibly irresponsible – we do not want that type of business, and anyone engaged in or allowing that behavior does not belong on our platform.”

The US rental site Airbnb logo is displayed during the company's press conference in Tokyo on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images)

The US rental site Airbnb logo is displayed during the company’s press conference in Tokyo on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images)

“Based on these developments, instituting a global ban on parties and events is in the best interest of public health,” they added.

Airbnb is exploring a potential exception for specialty venues, like boutique hotels.

“Unauthorized parties” have never been allowed at Airbnb listings, but traditionally the company allowed owners to list their properties as “event-friendly” and put “parties and events allowed” under their house rules. Both of those filters were removed at the beginning of the pandemic, and Airbnb required all listings to abide by local coronavirus health guidelines. (RELATED: Airbnb Bans ‘Party Houses’ After Halloween Shooting Left Five Dead)

Guests who violate the party ban “may be legally pursued,” according to the statement.

“We acknowledge that there will always be those who attempt to break the rules,” Airbnb said. “This is why we’ve implemented steep consequences for hosts or guests who try to skirt them – including bans from our community and even legal action.”

Airbnb clarified that small gatherings are banned, and their limit of 16 people is “one step amongst several.”

“We also understand that 16 is not a magic number, and issues can occur with groups of any size,” the statement said. “To be clear, we are not sanctioning smaller gatherings with this policy and all community members are expected to comply with local health restrictions on gatherings.”

“We will continue to enforce our party rules against groups of any size and will be taking action both on guests and listings if we receive reports from neighbors,” the company added.