Forum alters rules to stop racial profiling

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

Nextdoor.com, a forum meant to let neighbors share recommendations on plumbers or ask for help finding missing dogs, is struggling with claims that people are using it to racially profile those they find suspicious.

Some residents in racially diverse Oakland, Calif., say people were posting warnings about minorities, flagging black men walking by too slowly, for example.

In an effort to remedy that, the company no longer will allow immediate postings on its crime and safety section, said Nirav Tolia, chief executive of the San Francisco-based company. It will require people reporting a crime or warning about a suspicious person to fill out several forms before their post is published.

“If you make it really easy to post anything, people don’t have to think,” Tolia said. “But if you insert these decision points, it forces them to think about what they are doing.”

The forms will ask users to detail criminal behavior before they describe someone. A description must give details from head to toe, and not just list a race. The site also now scans for mentions of race that may be offensive.

If a racial-profiling post somehow gets through anyway, anyone can flag it for removal.