A popular online site for neighborhood groups nationwide promises San Francisco Bay residents it is making changes after complaints that people are using the service for racial profiling.
Chief-executive Nirav Tolia of the Nextdoor website spoke to Oakland officials and residents on Tuesday night about the effort, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Residents in racially diverse Oakland have complained that Nextdoor users were posting racially-based warnings about things like "suspicious-looking" African-Americans, for example.
Tolia says a new pilot program by the website requires users to describe alleged criminal behavior rather than simply posting warnings about someone's appearance. The site is also requiring people to describe someone by overall appearance rather than simply their race.
Tolia says the changes seem to be working, and will be used nationwide by summer.
