Global media network Al Jazeera reports Italy’s independent communications watchdog, Agcom, announced the fine Jan. 8, claiming Cloudflare failed to disable content flagged under its “Piracy Shield” system.
The system, adopted in 2024, allows rightsholders of livestreamed events to report pirated content through an automated platform, with providers like Cloudflare required to block the content within 30 minutes.
Cloudflare CEO and Park City resident Matthew Prince condemned the fine, saying it was a “scheme to censor the internet” late Friday.
He said the system had “no judicial oversight,” no appeal process, no transparency and required services to block content not just in Italy, but globally.
Yesterday a quasi-judicial body in Italy fined @Cloudflare $17 million for failing to go along with their scheme to censor the Internet. The scheme, which even the EU has called concerning, required us within a mere 30 minutes of notification to fully censor from the Internet any… pic.twitter.com/qZf9UKEAY5
— Matthew Prince 🌥 (@eastdakota) January 9, 2026
Prince also said his company was considering “discontinuing the millions of dollars in pro bono cyber-security services” Cloudflare is providing for the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
Prince will discuss the issue with U.S. officials before meeting with the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland.
Prince posted on X Tuesday, Jan. 13, that he had yet to talk to a U.S. government official who “isn’t mortified by Italy’s scheme to censor the web.”
Giddy up! 🤠Yet to talk to a USGOV official who isn’t mortified by Italy’s scheme to censor the web. #wewillwin pic.twitter.com/VAMjmf0ae2
— Matthew Prince 🌥 (@eastdakota) January 13, 2026
Cloudflare has two data centers in Italy; one in Rome and another in Milan. The tech billionaire also warned his company could discontinue its free cybersecurity services for Italian users, remove all servers from Italian cities and scrap plans to invest in the country.
While controversial, Agcom says since its adoption, the Piracy Shield has led to the disabling of at least 65,000 websites and approximately 14,000 IP addresses.
