"Much easier to throw a bone than to sit and argue with a guest. With no checks and balances, there’s no incentive to rule against guests. Is this just human nature, perhaps?"
Not true. I've had a host file fake damage claims before and airbnb sided with them until I made a massive fuss about it and got them to drop it.
The host claimed I stole a £100 latex luxury pillow from the bedroom I was staying in. The advert from the room showed a cheap £5 pillow in it and not what she was claiming for. My photos before the left showed the same pillow from her advert on the bed. She gave airbnb some random invoice for a pillow she bought herself a year ago which was never in the room, and was trying to use it to scam money and they sided with her until I raised hell and pointed out she has several bad reviews one of which also mentioned fake damage claims
She also lied on her advert, and was living in the house when she originally told me she wasn't before I booked. She would also take dirty pots and pans and put them back in the kitchen cupboard without cleaning them covered in fat and grease
Customer service is lazy and will side with whoever complains first and doesn't seem to follow any sort of structured process for assessing evidence