This week, Yelp started shining a brighter light on business with reviews that accuse them of racist behavior or speech.
In an official statement on their site, the company says:
“While searches for Black-owned businesses surged on Yelp, so did the volume of reviews warning users of racist behavior at businesses. Today, in response to this, we will now place a distinct Consumer Alert on business pages to caution people about businesses that may be associated with overtly racist actions.”
When it comes to executing this new system, Yelp says it may place a Public Attention Alert on a business to begin with and may escalate to a Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert when presented with evidence of racist actions. Plus, if they do escalate, there will be a link to credible media outlets highlighting the decision to place the most serious alert. Peep their latest Tweet on the system:
Read our full blog here: https://t.co/1K2bJ46uM8. pic.twitter.com/S04Bu9ehdE
— Yelp (@Yelp) October 9, 2020