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Website Meant to Connect Neighbors Hears Complaints of Racial Profiling Website Meant to Connect Neighbors Hears Complaints of Racial Profiling
(about 13 hours later)
OAKLAND, Calif. — One message on the web forum asked neighbors to be on the lookout for “two young African Americans, slim, baggy pants, early 20s.” Another warned of a “light skinned black female” walking her dog and talking on her cellphone. OAKLAND, Calif. — One message on the web forum asked neighbors to be on the lookout for “two young African-Americans, slim, baggy pants, early 20s.” Another warned of a “light-skinned black female” walking her dog and talking on her cellphone.
“I don’t recognize her,” the post read. “Has anyone described any suspect of crime like her?”“I don’t recognize her,” the post read. “Has anyone described any suspect of crime like her?”
These postings appeared on the Oakland forums of Nextdoor.com, a website intended to be a virtual neighborhood hangout for the tens of thousands of neighborhoods and hundreds of local police departments that use it to communicate with residents. The site’s chief executive and co-founder, Nirav Tolia, describes it as a place to find a babysitter, a plumber or a missing cat, and to have a “kind of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ chatter.”These postings appeared on the Oakland forums of Nextdoor.com, a website intended to be a virtual neighborhood hangout for the tens of thousands of neighborhoods and hundreds of local police departments that use it to communicate with residents. The site’s chief executive and co-founder, Nirav Tolia, describes it as a place to find a babysitter, a plumber or a missing cat, and to have a “kind of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ chatter.”
But people also use it to report suspected crimes. And as Nextdoor has grown, users have complained that it has become a magnet for racial profiling, leading African-American and Latino residents to be seen as suspects in their own neighborhood. But people also use it to report suspected crimes. And as Nextdoor has grown, users have complained that it has become a magnet for racial profiling, leading African-American and Latino residents to be seen as suspects in their own neighborhoods.
In response to the complaints, the company has begun testing new ways to prevent these kinds of postings. In response to the complaints, the company has begun testing ways to prevent these kinds of postings.
The site plans to require users who wish to alert neighbors of suspicious activities or people to fill out a form with a description of clothing or some other identifying markers beyond race. In this way, the company says, it will prevent users from relying on race alone in their descriptions, reducing the likelihood that innocent neighbors are targeted unfairly. The site plans to require users who wish to alert neighbors of suspicious activities or people to fill out a form with a description of clothing or some other identifying markers beyond race. In this way, the company says, it will prevent users from relying on race alone in their descriptions, reducing the likelihood that innocent neighbors will be targeted.
The site already requires people to register using their real names and verifies their home addresses before approving their profiles, a policy that was meant in part to prevent the antagonistic posts that are common on social media.The site already requires people to register using their real names and verifies their home addresses before approving their profiles, a policy that was meant in part to prevent the antagonistic posts that are common on social media.
“This isn’t just our issue, this is a broad societal issue that was playing out on Nextdoor,” Mr. Tolia said. “This isn’t just our issue,” Mr. Tolia said. “This is a broad societal issue that was playing out on Nextdoor.”
He added that “really egregious” racially charged posts represent a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of posts that are up each day and are usually flagged by other users. “But this is a bigger issue than one guy sniping at his neighbor,” he said. He added that “really egregious” racially charged posts were a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of posts that are up each day, and that they were usually flagged by other users. “But this is a bigger issue than one guy sniping at his neighbor,” he said.
The complaints about Nextdoor have come from across the country, but have been loudest here in Oakland, where nearly a third of all households use the platform, according to the company. The city is 28 percent black, 26 percent white, 25 percent Latino and 17 percent Asian. The complaints about Nextdoor have come from across the country but have been loudest here in Oakland, where nearly a third of all households use the platform, according to the company. The city is 28 percent black, 26 percent white, 25 percent Latino and 17 percent Asian.
“What I saw was just shocking to me,” Monica Bien, who signed up for Nextdoor after moving to Oakland in 2014, said of the comments on the site.“What I saw was just shocking to me,” Monica Bien, who signed up for Nextdoor after moving to Oakland in 2014, said of the comments on the site.
“There is this automatic fear or suspicion of anyone different, and it was validated by all these neighbors,” she continued. “It was like the bias was so insidious, and somehow the online community allows them to say what they have been thinking all along but not saying.”“There is this automatic fear or suspicion of anyone different, and it was validated by all these neighbors,” she continued. “It was like the bias was so insidious, and somehow the online community allows them to say what they have been thinking all along but not saying.”
Ms. Bien joined Neighbors for Racial Justice, an Oakland group that, along with city officials and local law enforcement agencies, has pressed the company to do something about the racial descriptions on the site. Ms. Bien joined Neighbors for Racial Justice, an Oakland group that, with city officials and local law enforcement agencies, has pressed the company to address the racial descriptions on the site.
Law enforcement officials said the postings can lead to a kind of echo chamber and prompt residents to call the police with false alarms. In addition, the police officials said they were wary of being tied to accusations of racial profiling at a time when they are under scrutiny over the way they deal with minority communities. Law enforcement officials said the postings could lead to a kind of echo chamber and prompt residents to call the police with false alarms. The officials also said they were wary of being tied to accusations of racial profiling when they are under scrutiny over the way they deal with minority communities.
“Anytime someone is asking us to respond to a supposed crime threat based on assumptions, we’re worried about wasting resources and alienating others,” said Lt. Chris Bolton, the Oakland police officer who manages the Police Department’s social media accounts. “We have to get people to understand what is a real suspicion.”“Anytime someone is asking us to respond to a supposed crime threat based on assumptions, we’re worried about wasting resources and alienating others,” said Lt. Chris Bolton, the Oakland police officer who manages the Police Department’s social media accounts. “We have to get people to understand what is a real suspicion.”
Nextdoor, founded in 2010, is not the first neighborhood-based platform accused of becoming a haven for racially charged suspicions.Nextdoor, founded in 2010, is not the first neighborhood-based platform accused of becoming a haven for racially charged suspicions.
In the Georgetown section of Washington, a chat board run by the local business improvement district was shut down after hundreds of posts accused African-American shoppers of trying to shoplift. SketchFactor, an app that billed itself as a user-generated guide for rooting out so-called sketchy neighborhoods, was lampooned as soon as it was released. The creators of the app abandoned it after it faced widespread criticism. In the Georgetown section of Washington, a chat board run by the local business improvement district was shut down after hundreds of posts accused African-Americans of trying to shoplift. SketchFactor, an app that billed itself as a user-generated guide for rooting out so-called sketchy neighborhoods, was lampooned as soon as it was released. The creators of the app abandoned it after it faced widespread criticism.
Still, no other such platform has the reach of Nextdoor, which aspires to be used by every neighborhood in the country. But no such platform has the reach of Nextdoor, which aspires to be used by every neighborhood in the country.
The changes on Nextdoor are being tested first among users in the Bay Area and Baltimore, Mr. Tolia said. By the end of the summer, he said, they should be in place nationwide. Nextdoor is testing its changes among users in the Bay Area and Baltimore, Mr. Tolia said. By the end of the summer, he said, they should be in place nationwide.
While some users who complained of racial profiling applaud the new policy, it does put the company in the thorny position of policing what constitutes a legitimate threat and what counts as thinly veiled prejudice. While some users who complained of racial profiling applauded the new policy, it puts the company in the thorny position of policing what constitutes a legitimate threat and what is thinly veiled prejudice.
And some residents here said the changes may discourage people from reporting concerns about crime. And some residents here said the changes might discourage people from reporting concerns about crime.
“I think there is a gray area there, where it can be open to interpretation and in some cases I think there has been an overreaction,” said Hugh Bartlett, an Oakland resident who, as a neighborhood leader on the website, is responsible for helping maintain civility in the postings. “A concern of mine is that people feel they are being picked on when they report things in the proper manner.” “I think there is a gray area there where it can be open to interpretation, and in some cases I think there has been an overreaction,” said Hugh Bartlett, an Oakland resident who, as a neighborhood leader on the website, is responsible for helping maintain civility in the postings. “A concern of mine is that people feel they are being picked on when they report things in the proper manner.”
Shikira Porter, a leader of Neighbors for Racial Justice, said that because of the controversy over Nextdoor, discussions of racial profiling have continued to spill over to chat boards and to personal conversations in the neighborhood. Shikira Porter, a leader of Neighbors for Racial Justice, said that because of the controversy over Nextdoor, discussions of racial profiling had continued to spill over to chat boards and to personal conversations in the neighborhood.
“Whether we can change attitudes, I don’t really know,” she said, “but we have to try to change actions.”“Whether we can change attitudes, I don’t really know,” she said, “but we have to try to change actions.”