Facing rampant accusations of racial profiling, Nextdoor had no choice but to ditch its "Forward to Police" feature. According to Gizmodo's latest report, the popular's app's "Forward to Police" feature, a widely planned function that faced years of criticism for allegedly facilitating racial profiling, was removed this week.
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I invite Toronto residents to connect with me on @Nextdoor by visiting https://t.co/7xrvSKuDeA or by downloading the app. @Nextdoor is a great tool to stay connected with your neighbours and to stay informed on important #COVID19 updates. #StrengthInNeighbours pic.twitter.com/SRokOkvxs8 — John Tory (@JohnTory) May 9, 2020
In the app, Nextdoor users can post information about suspicious activities and suspected crime in their community, acting as a sort of unofficial neighborhood watch by using the popular app's "Crime and Safety" category.
Users are allowed by the "Forward to Police" feature to re-send these posts to local police departments who are registered on the platform.
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According to The Root's 2019 report, widespread complaints about people of color being reported as suspicious are at a disproportionately higher rate on the Nextdoor app. Concerns about racial profiling have hounded the popular app since the feature was released in 2016 since these alerts are all unverified and self-reported.
Nextdoor accused of racism
Nextdoor was finally pushed to ditch the feature completely by the surge of people protesting Black Lives Matter in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck to restrain him.
Since most of the population has been stuck at home under shelter-in-place orders, the platform's growth increased in recent months, which also fueled the decision of the social media app.
The founder of Nextdoor, Prakash Janakiraman, said that during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the app's user engagement increased by 80%. The app's data userbase also beat the 10-million mark.
"As part of our anti-racism work and our efforts to make Nextdoor a place where all neighbors feel welcome, we have been examining all aspects of our product," said the company in a blog post.
"After speaking with members and public agency partners, it is clear that the Forward to Police feature does not meet the needs of our members and only a small percentage of law enforcement agencies chose to use the tool," added Nextdoor.
However, the report stated that the rising issue will not be the reason for the app's relationship with law enforcement to end. Nextdoor's feature that lets users directly message police authorities and several features that allow users to share information with participating police departments will remain in the app. Its police efforts, including partnering directly with departments to neighborhoods' geo-targeted messages and enlisting officers to promote the app, has recently expanded.
