Earlier this month — just weeks after it began trading on the Nasdaq — Russian online real estate service Cian.ru announced “changes in publication rules” and started deleting ads offering rentals “for Slavs only.”
According to this new policy, “advertising text must not contain direct or indirect discrimination, nor incitement to discrimination based on race or ethnicity (including indicators such as skin color, ethnic or national background, citizenship or religious faith).”
Any improperly worded sentences must be deleted by February 1, 2022. After this deadline, Cian will reserve the right to fix such texts on its own as deemed relevant.
“We stand for equal opportunity for all Cian.ru users and believe that this decision will become the industry standard” for the real estate market, the company stated.
Cian’s announcement came a week after the publication of an RFE/RL report focusing on racial discrimination in rental ads.
Widespread ethnic prejudice
People from Central Asia and the Caucasus, including a massive number of workers in the construction and service industries across Ruslan cities, are often targeted by various forms of prejudice and discrimination. Millions of Russian citizens representing a variety of ethnic or religious groups — from Finno-Ugric, Mongol or Turkic groups, to Jews or Muslims — may also be perceived or referred to as “non-Slavic.”
As a result, house-hunting in Russia is a challenge to “non-Slavs.” Seventeen percent of ads on four popular apartment-search platforms, including Cian, include xenophobic tags, reveal data from real estate service The Meters, cited by online publication The Bell.
Cian’s own research in March found that only 10% of Moscow landlords did not have any criteria for tenants. Nationality came as the most frequent objection (29%).
As noted by The Bell, Cian’s new policies “were not met with overwhelming support.” Angry comments on Cian’s social media pages were reported, as well as a fall in the app’s rating on Google Play and the App Store, with reviewers complaining of “russophobia” and “discrimination against Slavs.”
While Cian denies any connection with its recent IPO, The Bell sees in this story a demonstration of “how an IPO in the US may lead to the import of ‘Western values’” amid the reluctance of a part of Russian society.
