TripAdvisor Investigated for Deleting Sexual Assault Warnings at Multiple Resorts

TripAdvisor has apologized to a sexual assault survivor after the website deleted posts alleging [...]

By Kelsey Patterson

TripAdvisor has apologized to a sexual assault survivor after the website deleted posts alleging an attack at a resort in Mexico.

Kristie Love posted on the travel assistance site about a sexual assault she endured by a security guard at an Iberostar resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico in 2010, she recalled to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She claims the post was removed several times.

Soon after publishing the warning to potential travelers, a TripAdvisor moderator took down her post for violating the company's "family friendly" guidelines.

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"Since 2010, when the forum post was removed, our policies and processes have evolved to better provide information like this to other travelers. As a result, when recently brought to our attention, the victim's initial forum post was republished by our staff," TripAdvisor wrote in a statement.

But a months long investigation by the Journal Sentinel revealed more than a dozen people whose comments had been deleted from TripAdvisor for similar reasons. At one resort in Mexico, three people reported being sexually assaulted, but all had their warnings removed from the site.

Another user, Wendy Avery-Swanson, claimed she and her husband mysteriously blacked out before they finished their third drinks at a hotel swim-up bar, but her post was also removed.

"To me, it's like censoring," Avery-Swanson told the Journal Sentinel of her deleted post.

TripAdvisor gave several different reasons why their reviews were removed at the time. Among them was a claim that some posts contained language or were about topics that were not "family friendly."

The site claims it does allow for negative reviews and stories. Specifically, it said its family-friendly guidelines have evolved and updated since Love's review was removed seven years ago.

"At the time, we had a policy whereby we judged content to be in breach of our guidelines if it did not adhere to family friendly language. More than 7 years ago that meant all language needed to be G-rated. ... We recognized then that our previous guidelines went too far in preventing information like this from being shared," a TripAdvisor spokesperson told Mashable.

"A simple search of TripAdvisor will show numerous reviews from travelers over the last several years who wrote about their first-hand experiences that include matters of robbery or theft, assault and rape," the spokesperson continued.

After the Journal Sentinel report was published, TripAdvisor apologized to alleged victims and said it is making changes. It also reinstated Love's post detailing the sexual assault she experienced.

The site is also creating a "badge" icon that will alert users to health, safety and other discrimination issues. But rather than rely on users like Love and Avery-Swanson, this designation will be based on media stories and other credible sources of information.

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