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The online marketplace Carousell has taken action against two sellers for allegedly displaying racist behaviour while conversing with a user who was making a hotel booking enquiry.

What happened?

A Mothership reader provided a tip-off regarding the incident.

The man, who wished to remain unnamed, claimed the incident occurred to his girlfriend.

He said both he and his girlfriend are local Indians.

The duo were planning for a staycation at Marina Bay Sands, and the man's girlfriend took to the online marketplace to look for deals.

The woman made enquiries on some of the hotel deals listed, but the response and replies from some of the sellers left her shocked.

According to the man, some of the sellers asked his girlfriend for her race, and one of the sellers allegedly turned the couple away on the basis of their race.

The seller gave the excuse that only Chinese guests were allowed during the hotel stay period from Sep. 27 to Oct. 24.

This is the same period of time that the couple were looking to have their staycation.

The seller added that "all race guests are welcome after Oct. 24".

After receiving such responses from the sellers on Carousell, the man said: "We were planning [for] leisure but it just turned into pure pain."

Carousell's response

In response to Mothership's queries, a Carousell spokesperson said they have reached out to the users affected, and action has been taken against two sellers on the platform.

While investigations were underway, Carousell said one of the sellers was "immediately restricted" from the market place.

After which, Carousell's content moderation team informed the seller on user education and how their behaviour violated Carousell's community guidelines, and subsequently, reinstated the seller's account.

In addition, the spokesperson said the affected Carousell users were made aware of the restriction.

The other seller was also provided with user education, along with a formal warning.

The spokesperson said Carousell does not condone offensive or discriminatory behaviour of any kind, and further action will be taken if any other offences are committed.

The online marketplace is also ramping up its efforts to accurately detect and review listings with discriminatory behaviour.

Those who encounter a similar issue are advised to either report the listing or report the user, said the spokesperson.

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Top image by Eunice Stahl/Unsplash and courtesy of the Mothership reader