The European Commission’s new Digital Networks Act threatens to dismantle nearly a decade of net neutrality protections in Europe. What’s being pitched as a technical update could actually give politicians power over the open internet, create paid fast lanes, and weaken independent regulators.

Today, 21 January 2026, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposal for a Digital Networks Act (DNA). Framed as a technical modernisation of Europe’s telecom rules, the proposal marks a decisive shift away from core principles that have safeguarded an open and neutral internet for almost a decade.