Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE
CHECK OUT WeThePeople.store for best SWAG!
San Francisco-based Yelp, a popular app that features crowd-sourced reviews of businesses, has announced it will be adding a “racist behavior alert” to its platform, ostensibly to advise users of race-based complaints involving particular companies.
“Today, we’re announcing a new consumer alert to stand against racism,” the platform noted on Twitter.
“In the last few months, we’ve seen that there is a clear need to warn consumers about businesses associated with egregious, racially-charged actions to help people make more informed spending decisions,” the statement continued, introducing its new “Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert” warning.
“Communities have always turned to Yelp in reaction to current events, and our User Operations team already places alerts on business pages when we notice an unusual uptick in reviews that are based on what someone may have seen in the news, rather than on a first-hand experience,” it continued.
Communities have always turned to Yelp in reaction to current events, and our User Operations team already places alerts on business pages when we notice an unusual uptick in reviews that are based on what someone may have seen in the news, rather than on a first-hand experience.
— Yelp (@Yelp) October 8, 2020
Now, when a business gains attention for reports of racist conduct, Yelp will place a new Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert on their Yelp page to inform users, along with a link to a news article where they can learn more. https://t.co/1K2bJ46uM8
— Yelp (@Yelp) October 8, 2020
“Now, when a business gains attention for reports of racist conduct, Yelp will place a new Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert on their Yelp page to inform users, along with a link to a news article where they can learn more,” the statement continued.
A blog post from the company claimed that in 2020, there has been “a 133% increase in the number of media-fueled incidences” on the platform compared to last year.
“Between May 26 and September 30, we placed more than 450 alerts on business pages that were either accused of, or the target of, racist behavior related to the Black Lives Matter movement. We have maintained around-the-clock support over the last few months to ensure that we’re maintaining the trust and safety of our users and business owners,” the post continued.
“Increasingly, consumers across the U.S. are voting with their dollars by supporting businesses that align with their values. As always, we continue to evaluate how we can best use our platform to build a better, more equitable and inclusive environment where consumers and businesses can interact safely and fully informed,” it added.
In a video posted online, conservative pundit and entrepreneur Michelle Malkin blasted the rating platform while urging people to follow her lead and delete their Yelp accounts.
Cancel @Yelp before they cancel you! Deleting my account now. #CancelYelp https://t.co/7tbly5iHi8
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 9, 2020
“I am so p**sed off about this new Yelp policy,” she says, predicting that “this thing is going to blow up in their faces” and that businesses will wind up being falsely accused, but nevertheless harmed.
“This is the most noxious…example of virtue signaling that will enable mobs of online Antifa and Black Lives Matter vigilantes. That is what this is about,” she said. “It’s about empowering and weaponizing the doxing campaigns of the likes of” online leftists and left-wing groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
“They are turning the burden of proof on its head,” Malkin continued, calling it “absolutely disgusting and dangerous.”
“And you know who is going to suffer: Innocent small businesses that dare to be pro-Trump,” she continued, “that dare to speak out in favor of immigration enforcement measures…that dare to be openly pro-life…that refuse to cave into the mob.”
She also predicted that the new racist classification would lead to scores of lawsuits and other legal actions against Yelp.
Others online appeared to agree, as well as push back on the policy itself.
**Warning: Strong language
What an insanely stupid idea.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 9, 2020
Yelp treated me a in a racist way.
Yelp: Please report yourself as racists.
— Todd Ξ Herman (Parler: ToddEHerman) (@toddeherman) October 9, 2020
This is the most insane idea I’ve ever heard and I hope you are sued into bankruptcy
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 9, 2020
Fuck you
— Ron Coleman (@RonColeman) October 9, 2020
Dear Yelp:
What you are doing is called terrorism.
Fire the morons who think this is a good idea.
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) October 9, 2020
No one is more racist than liberals. They prioritize certain races, lie constantly then rig technology companies to penalize certain businesses based solely on race.
I’ll be deleting @Yelp off my phone.
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) October 9, 2020
You people are fucking psychopaths.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) October 9, 2020
So when a customer hallucinates that they’ve experienced racism you’re going to alert the entire world that the restaurant is racist?
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) October 9, 2020
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Jon@bizpacreview.com
Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
- Jan. 6 committee chair Benny Thompson offers a stunning take on potential Trump criminal actions - January 2, 2022
- Life-long New Yorker posts ‘sad’ Twitter ode on post-pandemic Big Apple being ‘shadow of its former self’ - January 2, 2022
- NYPD officer shot in head in police lot as he slept in vehicle between shifts - January 2, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
