Airbnb should be regarded as digital service provider, ECJ advised

Legal opinion welcome by company facing French calls for greater regulation

Airbnb has taken a step closer to avoiding onerous national regulations after an adviser to the European court of justice said the company should be regarded as a digital service provider.

Maciej Szpunar, one of the ECJ's advocates general, found that Airbnb was what Brussels would describe as an information society service, a status that comes with the right to operate freely across the EU.