Social networking community Nextdoor app says that its Forward to Police feature is stopped, enabling users to send message board posts directly to local police, CityLab Bloomberg said. The website has been continually studied how it interacts with law enforcement and how it deals with bias among its members.
"We have discussed all facets of our community in a blog post as part of my efforts to make Nextdoor a place to welcome all our neighbours .."
"It is clear that the Forward To Police functionality does not fulfill our members' criteria after consulting with representatives and with partners of the public departments, and a limited percentage of law enforcement departments agreed to use the device."
Black Nextdoor users told The Verge that posts on the AP sometimes made them feel uncomfortable, and volunteer moderators censored messages about demonstrations in Black Lives Matter. On 11 June, Sarah Friar, Nextdoor CEO, posted a blog post entitled "A next-door where everybody belongs," which said the company took steps to increase diversity. "Nextdoor is not space for bigotry," Friar wrote.
The Company also e-mailed its community leaders — those who facilitate app conversations — earlier this month to ask them to talk about Black Lives. "To be quite specific, racial disparity discussions and black life concerns in the Nextdoor region are permitted," the email states. "It is important that all discussions, irrespective of their topic, remain civil at the same time."
Bloomberg CityLab says that Nextdoor is apparently maintaining other capabilities, like sending and receiving direct messages, that enable communications with police departments through the app.
