Singapore — After being alerted to a discriminatory advertisement, online community marketplace Carousell issued a statement saying it was removing the ad and that it does not condone “offensive or discriminatory behaviour.”
Carousell was alerted to the ad by activist news site Wake Up, Singapore on Sunday, June 20.
Wake Up, Singapore posted a screenshot of the listing on its Facebook and Instagram pages, which was for a “huge common room” near Tanah Merah MRT, going for $600, for females only.
After enumerating the room’s attractive points—including its closeness to supermarkets, the MRT station, and food shops, it also included that the room “suits Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian.”
Side by side with the ad, Wake Up, Singapore posted a screenshot of a chat with the landlord.
The person on the chat, a possible renter, had asked, “Sorry, why not Indians or Malay?”
The renter answered, “May not match. Thanks.”
On its social media pages, Wake Up, Singapore captioned the post,
“Why this room so special one?
Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Indonesian ✅
Indian and Malay ❎
Racist just say racist lah. Simi do not match?
Wake Up, Singapore tagged Carousell, asking why it tolerated such ads and added that it hoped swift action would be taken “for this ad and all similar racist and discriminatory ads.”
The post has since been shared and commented on by many, although some netizens still argued that they saw nothing wrong with the post. They argued that landlords ultimately have the final say as to who they want as renters.
Carousell, however, responded to Wake Up, Singapore quickly and agreed that the post was discriminatory.
Furthermore, it added that it violated the site’s community guidelines.
“Hi there, thank you for alerting us.
Carousell does not condone offensive or discriminatory behaviour. This listing violates our community guidelines. We have since removed it from our marketplace and are currently reviewing the user’s account.
We are continuing to ramp up our efforts to accurately detect and review listings with discriminatory behaviour. Should you encounter a similar issue, please click on the listing and select ‘Report Listing’ so that we can take immediate action. We are committed to investing in and improving our marketplace capabilities to provide a safe and trusted environment for both buyers and sellers to transact,” wrote Carousell in response, which Wake Up, Singapore published in an update to the original post.
Wake Up, Singapore thanked the site for making its stance “unequivocally clear.” It also urged those who may find discriminatory or racist ads for rental or otherwise, to immediately report it to Carousell.
It added further below as a comment, “… the steps Carousell has taken goes beyond most property agencies,” other “property agencies and rental platforms should really step their game up” and follow suit.
/TISG
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