The Paris judge said Airbnb and the tenant need to pay around €60,000. The tenant sublet the flat on Airbnb for 534 days without the owner’s knowledge. Airbnb intends to appeal. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The judge ruled Airbnb is a publisher since it actively links hosts and travellers, and is therefore responsible for illegal content posted on its platform. “Airbnb contributed to the owner’s harm through its faulty behaviour,” the court said. If this logic is upheld, it could potentially have far reaching consequences for Airbnb, which, like many tech companies, maintains it is not a publisher and therefore not responsible for violations by hosts and renters who use the platform. This isn’t Airbnb’s only legal headache. The firm is facing 30,000 claims from Dutch residents who allege in multiple lawsuits that Airbnb improperly charged them. Those claims are similarly for relatively minor amounts—one is for about €1.9 million—but Airbnb is challenging them on concerns it could end up paying far more if a precedent is established.