Posts circulating on social media are suggesting Airbnb has warned of “government travel restriction” starting in June 2024. But this is not true.
Airbnb has announced changes to its cancellation and refund policy in the event of government travel restrictions, which take effect from 6 June 2024, but it has not warned about any such event actually happening.
Many posts on social media are sharing screenshots of a blog with the title: “Message from AirBnb: expect governments’ [sic] restricting travel after June 6, 2024”. The blog goes on to say “the insurance policies of the corporations are being revised to anticipate large-scale government actions, couched as ‘weather events’”, and that “it looks like new lockdowns for whatever pretenses [sic] are expected starting after June 6.”
It goes on to say “This is why this policy update reads like: ‘you might not be able to travel for your booked vacation, but if you are already somewhere, you will be allowed to return home’.”
The screenshots have been shared with captions including: “Did u guys see/hear about this travel restriction bs [sic] scheduled for June 2024?!” and “Warning lockdowns of some sort coming!!!”
A similar post on X (formerly Twitter) has been shared more than 3,200 times.
However, a spokesperson for Airbnb told Full Fact that claims Airbnb is predicting or has been warned about a government lockdown are entirely false.
In March 2024, Airbnb announced an update to its Extenuating Circumstances policy, which it was renaming to its Major Disruptive Events policy. The announcement said: “This policy provides cancellation and refund support for our guests when unexpected major events like natural disasters, government travel restrictions or weather events impact their ability to stay at a location.”
The updated policy will apply to foreseeable weather events—such as a “hurricane during hurricane season”—that impact the location of the listing only (it does not apply to the location people are travelling from). It will apply to reservations on or after 6 June 2024.
Full Fact could find no evidence of plans for US or UK government travel restrictions in June.
This is not the first time Full Fact has seen false claims relating to restrictions on travel and movement, including claims local councils were planning to restrict when residents could go to the shops, and that Nicole Schwab, the daughter of the World Economic Forum (WEF) founder, said “climate lockdowns” are coming.
This type of misinformation can cause alarm and uncertainty—it’s important to consider whether information you see on social media comes from a credible source before sharing it.
Image courtesy of Open Grid Scheduler / Scalable Grid Engine
