AUSTIN, Texas — Pinterest, one of the world's largest platforms for wedding planning, on Wednesday announced that it will no longer promote content spotlighting plantation wedding venues.
In a statement provided to KVUE Wednesday, a Pinterest spokesperson explained why the company made the decision:
“Weddings should be a symbol of love and unity. Plantations represent none of those things. We are grateful to Color of Change for bringing attention to this disrespectful practice. We are working to limit the distribution of this content and accounts across our platform, and continue to not accept advertisements for them.”
Color of Change is an organization that designs campaigns with a mission to end injustices for black people. It recently pressured Pinterest and The Knot, another wedding planner service, to change their policies about promoting wedding content that romanticizes slave plantations – both of which have since confirmed changes.
The Pinterest spokesperson said they've already begun making those changes, some of which include limiting the distribution of this kind of content and accounts across the website, including autocomplete, search recommendations, email notifications and SEO. Though people are still able to search for plantation wedding content, a new advisory will be displayed stating that some results may violate Pinterest's policies.
Pinterest does not accept advertisements for these kinds of wedding venues and it will continue not to. According to the spokesperson, Pinterest has also taken steps to make sure that ads won't appear in search results for "plantation weddings" and other related searches.
"We're doing this because everyone deserves to feel welcome and inspired when planning their wedding on Pinterest," the spokesperson said.
The Knot also provided a statement to KVUE about the changes:
"Our goal is to ensure that the content of all of our vendors on our sites is respectful and considerate to everyone. At The Knot Worldwide, we pride ourselves as a company by being inclusive to all – all sexes, genders, races, sexual orientations, religions, and more.
Color of Change brought an issue to light about the way venues with a history of slavery describe their properties to couples. We’re currently working with Color of Change to create additions to our current content guidelines that will ensure all couples feel welcomed and respected on our sites. These guidelines will prohibit any vendors on The Knot or WeddingWire from using language that romanticizes or glorifies a history that includes slavery. We will remove any vendors from our sites that do not comply. By creating these guidelines, we are providing a respectful experience for all couples, wedding professionals, and employees."
Some popular plantation wedding venues in the Austin area include The Plantation House in Pflugerville and the Kendall Plantation in Boerne, which was selected as one of The Knot's 2019 "Best of Weddings" picks.
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