Airbnb Introduces ‘Anti-Party Technology’ to Curb Rowdy July 4th Celebrations

COCOA BEACH, Fla. – A recurring issue that worsens during extended holiday weekends is the disturbance caused by rowdy and occasionally violent parties held at vacation rentals.

Now, across Central Florida, as communities crack down on these rentals, Airbnb itself is explaining what it’s doing to eliminate party homes.

Airbnb spokesperson Lisa Cohen has indicated that the company appears to be utilizing artificial intelligence to detect when a rental booking might be intended for hosting a party.

The message shared with News 6 mentions, “These anti-party measures employ machine learning to identify and prevent potentially risky bookings of entire homes, thus supporting Airbnb’s global ban on parties. Individuals trying to make such reservations may be blocked or redirected to other lodging options on the platform.”

Last summer, Airbnb said this stopped more than 7,000 bookings in Florida.

The company noted that parties are extremely rare on Airbnb.

According to Airbnb, just .08% of all bookings in Florida last year resulted in an allegation of a party.

Dave Dickey with Cocoa Beach’s building department said that’s not the case in his city.

Dickey spoke to commissioners at their meeting on June 19.

“We certainly get a lot of complaints about party houses,” he said.

When police respond to those complaints under a new rule the commission approved, not only do they have to enforce the city’s eight-person occupant limit for a rental, but now, they also have to count anybody to that total who’s been there longer than 15 minutes.

Chief Wes Mullins said that could be a challenge.

“How do we prove that when we go in and go out of a house?” he asked the commissioners. “Are we gonna sit inside of somebody’s house for 15 minutes with a body cam on and count to 15 minutes?”

Since it started banning parties in 2020, Airbnb reported parties in the state are down more than 40%.