January 9, 2026
Censor wars: bring popcorn
Cloudflare CEO on the Italy Fines
Cloudflare vs Italy: $17M fine sparks free‑speech brawl and Olympic snub threats
TLDR: Italy fined Cloudflare $17M for refusing a fast, broad blocking order, and the CEO threatened to pull services and Olympic protection while rallying free‑speech allies. The community is split between applauding the stand and mocking hypocrisy, with Elon/Musk shoutouts turning a legal fight into meme‑ready drama.
Cloudflare’s CEO just dropped a bomb: Italy fined them $17 million after they refused what he calls a 30‑minute, no‑judge, no‑appeal “censorship scheme” that could block sites worldwide—even via their 1.1.1.1 DNS (the phone book of the internet). He’s vowing to fight, threatening to yank free security from the Milano‑Cortina Olympics, pull servers out of Italy, and cancel plans for an Italian office. He also shouted out U.S. Senator JD Vance and Elon Musk. Cue the internet riot. Users are posting receipts like this link, while cheering, jeering, and meme‑ifying the “shadowy cabal” line.
The hottest take? Irony. andy99 says it’s rich for a company that can nuke sites at the infrastructure level to cry “open internet.” adrr goes straight for Elon, calling out his past bans and dubbing the free‑speech talk “selective.” thrance sees the CEO’s thread as principled on paper, but spicy in practice—dragging U.S. politics into an EU fight. Still, there’s applause too: joduplessis “likes the forthrightness,” and many are here for the drama, not the details. Jokes flew about Cloudflare doing an “Internet Thanos snap,” and folks dunked on the “play stupid games” line. Bottom line: some see a brave stand; others see a brand flexing power while calling out someone else’s power. Pass the popcorn.
Key Points
- •Cloudflare says it was fined $17 million in Italy for not complying with a content-blocking scheme.
- •The company alleges the scheme required 30-minute takedowns, DNS-level censorship via 1.1.1.1, and global enforcement without judicial oversight.
- •Cloudflare states it had multiple legal challenges pending against the scheme and will contest the fine.
- •Potential actions under consideration include withdrawing pro bono Olympic cybersecurity support, ending free services in Italy, removing servers in Italian cities, and halting Italian investments.
- •Cloudflare plans meetings with U.S. officials in Washington, DC, and with the IOC in Lausanne, and says regulation should be limited to domestic networks with due process.