Civil rights groups and Stanford Professor Barbara van Schewick have filed a formal complaint with Germany's Federal Network Agency against Deutsche Telekom. They allege the provider creates artificial network bottlenecks, slowing down services that don't pay for preferential access. This practice violates the core principle of net neutrality, which mandates all internet traffic be treated equally.

The complaint is backed by user reports spanning months, with customers experiencing severe slowdowns during evening hours. Specific services like GitHub, Cloudflare-hosted sites, Discord, and YouTube become unusable, impacting developers, researchers, and remote workers. Users note these problems don't occur with other providers like O2, pointing to Telekom's peering arrangements as the root cause.

If successful, the complaint could force Deutsche Telekom to change its network management policies. This case tests European net neutrality enforcement and has significant implications for internet freedom and competition. It highlights how carrier practices can directly hinder access to critical tools and services for German professionals and students.